


IGPX – Team Balisong

by RaphaelComet



Category: IGPX: Immortal Grand Prix - All Media Types
Genre: Air Force, College, F/F, Humans vz. Zombies, HvZ, IG-1, IG-2, Lesbian Character, Lesbian Relationship, Lesbian Romance, Mecha, Team Balisong, USAF
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-08
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:02:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 67,922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25141330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RaphaelComet/pseuds/RaphaelComet
Summary: Team Balisong, an up-and-coming IG-2 team, gets the opportunity of a lifetime and earns a place within the IG-1 circuit. Blair Casing, the team captain, now needs to get her team prepared to race against the best the IGPX has to offer. Follow Blair and the rest of Team Balisong as they try and adapt to their newfound fame, getting glimpses into Blair’s past during her time in college and the military along the journey.
Relationships: Blair Casing & Roxanne Schultz & Sarah Davis, Blair Casing/Roxanne Schultz, Shizune Anko & Miharu Anko





	1. The Immortal Grand Prix

**Author's Note:**

> The story takes place after the events of the IGPX anime series and references canon characters from it.
> 
> Blair Casing, Roxanne Schultz, Shizune and Miharu Anko, Sarah Davis, Lucia Cloverson, and Maggie Mendoza are my OCs.
> 
> * **NOTICE** * Story has scenes of lesbian relations throughout.
> 
> Reposted from my FanFiction page:

“Oh! And another one bites the dust! Team Edgeraid is down to its last man as Team Velshtein closes in on the team’s captain.” A loud voice boomed from the speakers surrounding the track as cheers from the crowd echoed in the distance. The IGPX’s leading commentator, Benjamin Bright, kept the spectators up to date on the second-to-second details of the race, his energetic words keeping the fans on the edge of their seats.

Ricardo, Team Edgeraid’s leader, kept his guard up as Team Velshtein circled around him, waiting for the signal to strike. His crimson mech was battered and beaten but still on its legs, barely. The mechs of Team Velshtein glided seamlessly along the track, moving at more than three hundred and fifty miles per hour around the sixty-mile track. They kept their predatory gaze on the lone Edgeraid mech, ready to pounce at a moment’s notice. Even without the use of their then-illegal signature move, the “Indrago Mano” or “Ace up the Sleeve”, they were still able to easily dispatch Team Edgeraid’s defender and midfielder within the second lap. Alex “Cunningham” Hume, Team Velshtein’s leader, had his team stand down, wanting to take Ricardo on captain-to-captain.

“Jan, Dew, hang back. He’s mine,” said Cunningham with a smirk, moving into attack position. His teammates acknowledged and fell back, giving Cunningham and his opponent enough room to fight. They kept close by though, ready to provide assistance if needed in the event of Ricardo somehow besting their captain.

Ricardo prepared himself, unsure if he could take on the legendary pilot one-on-one. He cursed under his breath as Cunningham suddenly lunged at him, beginning his onslaught of attacks. Ricardo pushed his mech to the limit, engaging in battle against the rival captain who was a much more experienced and skilled pilot when compared to himself.

Cunningham was ruthless in his assault, delivering blow after blow without letting up. Since his defeat at the hands of Team Satomi’s captain, Takeshi Jin, he vowed to better develop his skills and utterly destroy any team that he and his teammates happened to race against. Every blow dented and chipped Ricardo’s mech, pieces of its frame littering the racetrack. Debris bounced along the pavement, leaving a trail of destruction and carnage behind the mechs as they zoomed by.

Ricardo was running on fumes just trying to keep up and his defenses were at its limit. “This is bad! I’m done for!” he said with gritted teeth. Inside the cockpit, the displays cracked and systems began to fail as he broke into a nervous sweat. His mech suddenly lost function in its left arm, rendering it useless as he used his other to block Cunningham’s persistent attacks.

Team Velshtein’s captain withdrew and prepared for the final blow. “This is it!” said Cunningham out loud, cocking his mech’s arm back. Having only a semi-working display up and running, Ricardo held his breath as he saw Cunningham’s fist break through his remaining arm. With one final blow, Cunningham delivered a devastating punch to Ricardo’s head, nearly taking it off his mech’s body.

“Oooo, and down he goes! Team Edgeraid is out of the race, leaving Team Velshtein to finish unopposed!” said Benjamin over the loudspeakers.

#

Suddenly, a bag of chips went flying by the television screen followed by an angry outburst. “What a bunch of hacks! That was the worst match I’ve seen yet!” A young woman in her late-twenties booed as she sat on the couch, disappointed at the recent IGPX match she had just witnessed. Her nearly skinny, black jeans rustled as she rested her leg over the other on the table. She folded her arms over her chest, wrinkling her simple, black tank-top on her torso. Still watching the screen, she huffed as a few strands of her shoulder-length, deep crimson hair drooped over her vibrant, blue eyes.

“It wasn’t that bad, Blair. I thought Edgeraid put up a good fight… at least, for going up against a team like Velshtein,” said another woman, also in her late-twenties. She was sitting on the couch as well, smiling and turning to the crimson-headed person situated next to her.

Blair scoffed, her arms still crossed in defiance. She adjusted her thin, red glasses, moving them further up on the bridge of her nose with a finger. “Those hacks don’t even deserve to be in the IG-1, Roxy. WE should be in the IG-1,” she said, gesturing to herself.

Blair Casing was the leader and team captain of Team Balisong, a premiere IG-2 team and ranked number two in the circuit. She acted as the team’s forward and helped start the team a couple or so years prior. She and her teammates quickly rose to fame when they began racing, garnering more media attention with every race whether it was a win or a loss.

The person next to Blair on the couch was named Roxanne Schultz, her girlfriend and the team’s skilled back-up pilot. She was one of the original members of the team and knew Blair from even back before the team was formed.

“You know, you’re cleaning those chips up later, right?” said Roxanne to Blair.

Blair pouted, looking to the kitchen across the room. There, she saw the other two pilots of her team having lunch, taking bites and drinking from their cups in perfect synchronization. “What do you two think? Think we have what it takes to take on Team Velshtein in the IG-1?” asked Blair.

Shizune and Miharu were identical twins in their mid-twenties, acting as the team’s midfielder and defender respectively. They both set their forks down at the same time, looking to Blair in the living room. “Of course we do!” they said in unison.

Their energetic response put a smile on Blair’s face. “That’s what I like to hear!” she said, giving them a thumbs-up with one hand.

Suddenly, there was a tug on Blair’s sleeve as Roxanne looked to the television. “Hey, Blair! Look! It’s a recap of the interview we did for the IGPX Committee after winning the Clementine Circuit,” said Roxanne.

“Really? Nice! Hey, Anko, come check this out,” said Blair, getting more comfy on the couch and making room for the twins. When she wanted to address them both, she just called them Anko, which was their last name. Shizune and Miharu acknowledged and came over, sitting on the couch next to Blair and Roxanne.

#

“And here you have it, folks! The winners of the IG-2 Clementine Circuit, Team Balisong!” said Benjamin Bright as he held the microphone to his mouth, motioning to Blair and the other three pilots. They were all on a stage located in the main amphitheater near the race track. The event was attended by a large audience and was being televised live worldwide. “Let’s give these lovely ladies a round of applause!” he said as he began clapping himself.

Blair and the other members of Team Balisong casually walked on the stage, waving their hands at the audience and smiling for the cameras. Once they were across, they sat down in the chairs placed opposite from Benjamin’s, looking as cocky as ever, or at least Blair was. Blair was wearing a tailored, light-grey fitted suit which showed off her fit and slim body, though, her bust remained concealed and compressed in the blazer. Her shirt was pearl white and accented with a plain, black tie with accompanying silver tie clasp.

Benjamin calmed the crowd down and began the interview, starting with the team’s captain, Blair. He started off by giving the audience a brief background of the pilot, going over her accomplishments and basic information as a brief summary for those new to the sport or unfamiliar with the team.

“First up on the roster is the captain of Team Balisong, Blair Casing, otherwise known by her teammates as ‘Brass’,” said Benjamin. He adjusted in his seat, switching the microphone to his other hand while the large screen behind them turned on, displaying what the people at home were viewing from the live event. “Blair acts as the team’s forward and is also one of the co-founders of the team. Am I correct?” he asked with a smile.

Blair smiled as well, unable to contain her excitement as she raised a microphone to respond. “That’s correct, Mr. Bright. The other co-founder is the team’s manager, Sarah Davis,” she said.

“Is that so? Speaking of which, isn’t it true that you, Ms. Davis, and the other pilots on your team are all military veterans?” he asked, raising an eyebrow inquisitively.

With a snooty grin, Blair dramatically crossed one leg over the other and responded promptly. “That we are, Benji. I was in the Air Force and served for four years before separating just last year,” she said. As she continued talking, she got more into the groove, cheerful about having the opportunity to brag about her short, yet illustrious career in the military. “I was a fighter-pilot. My last duty station was in the Philippines and I was stationed there along with Roxy and then Lieutenant Colonel Davis, but they can talk all about that when it’s their turn.”

“Absolutely fascinating. A bunch of ladies with bite both on and off the track. So because of your military training, you’re used to the jostling and rocking of piloting a high-speed machine?” asked Benjamin.

Blair chuckled, running a hand through her hair. “Yeah. Making the transition from a high-tech fighter jet to an IGPX mech wasn’t so difficult. I mean, we basically wear the same outfit almost. I just needed to familiarize myself with the new controls and stuff then before you know it, I’m racing like a pro,” she said.

“I bet. Within your first year on the track, you managed a 5-2 record in the IG-2 league. Not bad for a team just starting out. Say, so you’re Team Balisong, right? How did you come up with your team’s name?” asked Benjamin as he leaned forward to hear Blair better.

Blair looked to the team’s manager and got a nod in return, allowing Blair to answer the question on her own. “The name came from a weapon we become quite fond of while stationed in the Philippines. The Balisong, or more commonly known as the Butterfly Knife, is an elegant yet deadly weapon. It’s highly versatile, unpredictable, and severely capable in the hands of a professional. That’s very much like ourselves, right? We’re elegant, deadly, and extremely capable,” she said. To emphasize the fact, she gave the audience a playful wink which caused an uproar of approving cheers.

Benjamin couldn’t help but clap as well, the crowd’s fervor fueling his own. “You don’t say! Well I happen to agree there, especially after seeing your last performance against Team Wyvern. Those guys didn’t stand a chance against your cunning tactics,” he said.

Blair gave a nod, going into some detail about their tactics without giving away any trade secrets. The audience listened intently, occasionally giving a shout out or cheer. She and Benjamin continued on, talking about things ranging from her early days as a racer to more personal items.

After Benjamin was done asking Blair questions, he moved on with the interview. “Thank you, Captain Casing, for your insightful words. Next, we have Team Balisong’s midfielder and defender, the Anko Twins!” he said.

As they were announced, Shizune and Miharu gave a wave, smiling with their cheeky grins. They were wearing contemporary Navy-blue yukatas which complimented their short, dark-brown hair. “Thank you for having us,” they said together, standing up and giving a slight bow.

“The pleasure’s mine, um… Shizune, Miharu,” said Benjamin, nodding to them as a pair since he couldn’t tell them apart. “So like the good captain, you both were in the military before joining the ranks of the IGPX pilots?” he asked.

“Hai! (Yes!) Miharu and I were both fighter-pilots in the Japanese Air Self Defense Force. That’s how we met Brass and the others. We were all stationed in the Philippines for an exercise at the same time. After we served our required time distinctively, we left to join Brass’ merry IGPX team,” said Shizune, giving a smile as she tilted her head slightly in a cute fashion. The audience clapped and cheered at the gesture, calming down once more as Benjamin began talking again. He continued the interview, asking them about their special battle strategy, being twins and all. Once Benjamin exhausted the questions lined up for them, he moved on to the last official pilot of Team Balisong. “Let’s hear it for Shizune and Miharu!” said Benjamin, stirring up the crowd. The twins gave their fans a wink and a final wave before Benjamin focused his attention on Roxanne. “Last but not least, we have Team Balisong’s backup pilot, Roxanne Schultz!” said Benjamin.

Roxanne was wearing a black, knee-length skirt accompanied by a white blouse and matching blazer. She gave him a nod and cleared her throat. “It’s good to be here,” she said in a reserved, yet cheerful tone.

“So before we begin, the word around the track is that you and Blair are close, and I mean real close. Exactly how long have you known her? Did you meet in the military? The world wants to know!” asked Benjamin, almost just as excited himself to know.

Roxanne blushed slightly, raising her hands and interlocking her fingers under her chin. “W- Well, yeah. We’re close. We served in the same units while in the military, but we met way before then. We actually met in college and went through ROTC together. We’ve been good friends ever since and…” She paused as she squirmed nervously in her seat. She momentarily looked to Blair who smiled, giving her a thumbs-up. “And… she’s also my- my girlfriend.” As soon as she said that, the crowd started shouting with surprise and delight.

Blair chuckled and interjected. “Yeah, it’s true. Roxy is my little love bug,” she said.

“Well, you heard here first, folks!” said Benjamin with the same amount of enthusiasm as the crowd. “Love blossoms even on the battlefield!”

#

“Oh yeah, that’s when everyone found out about our relationship. That was so cute,” said Blair, smiling at the fond memory. “I can’t believe it took that long before everyone realized that you and I were a couple.” She and the others continued to watch the interview together, commenting about each other’s awkward responses and slight mishaps on live, worldwide television.

Once the playback of the interview ended, a live feed appeared after the show as Benjamin Bright came on the screen. “That, ladies and gentlemen, was Team Balisong, the latest addition to the IG-1 roster!” he said with the same level of enthusiasm as in the interview.

“Wait, huh?” said Blair as she and the others sat up in their seats on the couch. They turned up the volume and began listening intently to what he had to say next.

After watching the live footage for a few minutes, Roxanne turned to Blair with a confused look. “Wh- What are they talking about? What do they mean by ‘latest addition to the IG-1 roster’?” she asked.

On the screen, Benjamin was sitting with the Chairman of the IGPX Committee, talking about Edgeraid’s recent defeat in the IG-1 circuit. “And what an addition they are. The fine pilots over at Team Balisong are seasoned warriors. They’re going to give the veterans of the IG-1 circuit a run for their money,” said the Chairman. “With the recent upset with Team Edgeraid, they’ve ended up in last place. And by having the least amount of points, they’ve been demoted back to the IG-2 league.”

“Right you are, Mr. Chairman. And with their departure leaves an open slot in the prestigious IG-1 league for one, and only one lucky team from the IG-2. At first, Team Windstreak would have taken the vacancy by being the point leader at the end of the season, but after being disqualified for illegal part use, the honor goes to the runner up, the sassy and vicious Team Balisong!” said Benjamin, turning to the audience through the cameras.

At that point, Blair jumped to her feet, astonished at the recent development coming from the broadcast. “This is nuts! I- We- Is this really happening?” she asked, looking back to her team on the couch.

Shizune and Miharu looked to each other and shrugged, then returned their attention to Blair. “We haven’t heard anything about this,” they said together.

“Me neither,” said Roxanne. “But this is live, so it must be true! Why hasn’t the Colonel told us? Or anybody else for that matter?”

“Well I’m going to find out,” said Blair, reaching for her phone on the table in front of her. She quickly dialed the team manager’s number using speed dial and waited, tapping her foot anxiously on the ground as she bit her lip in anticipation. After getting redirected to the voicemail, she hung up, sneering at the lack of a response. “C’mon, let’s go see what the deal is with all this. If this is all a joke, I swear…” She motioned for the team to follow her as she headed to the apartment’s front door. After taking her favorite green flight jacket in hand, complete with its sleeves rolled up, her unit’s flight patch on the right shoulder, and her name stitched on the front, she slipped on her black, laceless combat boots and opened the front door.

As soon as Blair did, the team’s manager, an older woman in her early forties, but still slim and fit for someone her age, stood before her. She was carrying two bags filled with groceries in her arms, dressed in dress slacks and a blouse with the sleeves rolled up. “Oh, uh… Surprise?” said Sarah with an awkward smile. She had light-blue eyes and bright, blonde hair, which was styled into a neat bun, an old habit from her military days.

Blair stood in the doorway, her team standing right behind her to see who it was. “Colonel, what are you doing here?” asked Blair, opening the door fully.

“Wanted to congratulate you and the team with some snacks and drinks,” said Sarah, gesturing with the bags.

“Oh, so the news must be true…,” said Roxanne, moving up next to Blair.

“Was there ever any doubt?” asked another voice.

Sarah turned her head, as did Blair and Roxanne, to see who spoke. Coming down the hall was a woman in a wheelchair being pushed by a younger girl. The woman in the wheelchair was in her mid-thirties, wearing business slacks, a blouse, and a blazer. She was a brunette with shoulder-length hair fashioned into almost a bob-cut. The brim of her thin-framed glasses rested on the edge of her nose, her hazel eyes beaming over the top of the lenses. The younger girl behind her was in her mid-twenties, her long, raven-black hair hanging past her shoulders and down her back.

“Ms. Cloverson, you’re here too?” asked Blair, poking her head out the door and into the hallway.

“Of course. I wouldn’t want to be absent when we break the news to you all, but it seems you’ve already found out and ruined the surprise,” said woman in the wheelchair. Her name was Lucia Cloverson, the team’s coach and mentor. She used to be a former IG-1 racer from Team Foxhound, along with her teammates Haytham Conway and the team’s captain, Rori McCallahan. She acted as the team’s midfielder when she raced with them, but during a tragic accident one day on the track, she ended up losing the use of her legs. Even though she was out of the job being a pilot, Sarah recognized her usefulness and hired her as the team’s coach after Team Foxhound fell apart.

“Oh, that’s no fun. How did you find out?” asked the younger girl standing behind Lucia. Her name was Maggie Mendoza and acted as Lucia’s assistant and the team’s secretary. Seeing everyone in the doorway to the apartment, she wheeled Lucia closer to Sarah and the others.

“We were watching Edgeraid’s race against Velshtein and came across an old interview afterwards, the one we did with Bright after winning the Clementine Circuit. Then he goes on to talk about how Team Windstreak was disqualified and how we got the open slot in the IG-1 circuit,” said Blair after calming down a bit.

“Yeah, well, let’s continue this conversation inside. My arms are kinda falling asleep here,” said Sarah, still holding the loaded grocery bags. Blair and Roxanne stepped out of the away, allowing Sarah, Lucia, and Maggie entrance into their modest apartment.

It was a moderately sized swelling located in the heart of the city, complete with two roomy bedrooms, a kitchen area/dining area, a storage closet, a laundry room, and a main living area. The Anko twins shared one room while Blair and Roxanne had the other. The décor was modern and contemporary in design, but not too extravagant to be overbearing.

Closing the door behind her, Blair took off her shoes and hung her jacket back on the rack before joining the others in the main room. “So give us the debrief, Colonel. What can you tell us about our spot in the IG-1?” she asked.

Sarah placed the bags down in the kitchen, taking out the contents and placing them on the counter. “Hold your horses, Brass. First, help me get the snacks and the champagne out. Where are the glasses?” she asked, looking around.

Blair obliged and retrieved enough glasses for everyone while Roxanne and the twins helped Sarah with the classy party food. Sarah decided to splurge for the occasion, bringing cocktail shrimp, various types of sushi, miniature pastries, and other assorted hors d’oeuvres to the party. While they plated the food, Blair opened up the champagne bottle and poured everyone a glass. When everything was ready and looking appetizing, they all took their glass in hand and waited for Sarah to make the toast.

Sarah thanked Blair for preparing the drinks before getting everyone’s attention. “We’ve come a long way, Team Balisong, starting from humble beginnings straight out of the military before transitioning back into the civilian world. It wasn’t an easy task, but we didn’t let that stop us. We rocked, and we fought, and we won our way to become the number two team in the entire IG-2 circuit!” she said, raising her glass in celebration.

“Here here!” said everyone else in the room, raising their glasses as well with high spirits.

“With our determination, our superior skill, and our wise guidance thanks to the great Lucia Cloverson, we’ve brushed aside the competition with ease. But now we have an opportunity to rise to even greater heights! Now, we take our fight to the big leagues, to the IG-1!” said Sarah, her volume and vigor increasing as she spoke.

“HOO-AH!” said the pilots in their usual military fashion.

Sarah raised her glass again and held it out to the team. “A toast! To Team Balisong and its invitation to the IG-1.”

“Amen,” said the group, exchanging glass taps and downing their drink.

Roxanne only took a sip, not really a fan of champagne; she just drank as a respectful gesture to the team. “Urgh, that’s enough for me. Hey, Blair, want the rest?” she asked, swirling around the remains of her drink in her glass. When she turned to her, Blair had already downed her own drink.

“Hmm? Oh, sure. Gimme that,” said Blair. She took Roxanne’s glass and downed the contents in one gulp, exhaling with delight.

The twins took a hearty swig each, but saved some of their drinks for later. “So what are the details?” asked Shizune as she began to pile on food onto her plate. “When do we get to race against the real vets?”

Sarah refilled her glass as well as Blair’s. “That’s a good question. Now that we’re officially an IG-1 team, we’re free to race and attend events in the IG-1 circuit. I know that you all are chilling during the main offseason, but that’s the IG-2 league. We’re in the IG-1 league now, ladies! The next main event for the IG-1 league happens in just a few months, the Opening IG-1 Invitational Series.”

Lucia smiled as she looked to Sarah. “That’s right. And if you plan on racing with the best the IGPX has to offer, you’re going to need a lot of work. I know what the teams are capable of; I’ve raced against quite a few of them myself when I was still behind the controls,” she said, handing her glass to Maggie to place on the counter. “I know you’ve watched their races and are familiar with their signature moves, but these teams aren’t like the amateurs you’ve been racing against in the IG-2. They’re battle-hardened professionals who’ve knocked out plenty of teams in their racing tenure.”

“Don’t worry about that, ma’am. They haven’t come across a team like us before,” said Blair, clenching her hand into a determined fist.

“That’s right, ma’am. Since Skylark’s recent decline back into the IG-2, it’s about time another all-female team took their place. Someone needs to show these boys who’s in charge,” said Roxanne.

“I agree,” said each of the twins.

Lucia scoffed at their overconfidence, glaring at the four of them through her tinted glasses. “Don’t get cocky, Balisong. You’re good, but not the best yet. At this point in time you wouldn’t even last a lap with the best the IG-1 has to offer.”

Blair reeled from the sudden lack of confidence from the coach. “But we-,” she said before being cut off.

“Stow it! Despite what you may think, you’re not ready to take on an IG-1 team. You’ve been going up against amateurs for too long! You’ve become too complacent with your current skill level, and that is not enough!” said Lucia in a firm, yet motivational tone.

Blair and the other pilots silenced themselves, lowering their heads slightly as they gave Lucia their undivided attention. “I see…,” said Blair with clenched teeth.

Lucia continued to glare then cracked a smile. “But don’t worry. With my help, and a can-do attitude, you’ll be top-tier in no time,” she said with a chuckle, motioning for her glass. “This is a time for celebration! Cheer up and have fun. For tonight, you’re winners.” She raised her glass again for a toast, attempting to change the mood of the room from grim to festive.

“You’re absolutely right,” said Sarah with a smile, raising her half-full glass.

“We won’t let you down!” said Blair.

“We’ll try our hardest!” said Roxane.

Maggie, Shizune, and Miharu nodded in agreement, raising their glasses.

“Team Balisong all the way!” they all said together.


	2. Practice Makes Perfect

After the celebration the night before, Team Balisong awoke the next day completely refreshed and motivated. The team decided to pay a visit to the IGPX practice track, the place where all the mechs were kept for teams during the offseason. They planned to get their mechs in working order before spending the next few months in strenuous, grueling training for the upcoming IG-1 event. The team was up early the next morning, having been used to early starts while in the military. When Blair and the other pilots met in Team Balisong’s hangar, Sarah and Lucia greeted them with motivated smiles.

“Good to see you bright and early, Team Balisong,” said Sarah. She and Lucia were looking quite awake for being up that early in the morning, but Maggie, on the other hand, was still half-asleep.

“Good morning, ladies. Team Balisong, reporting in,” said Blair, smiling as she gave a casual hand motion resembling a salute. She then looked to Maggie and gestured to her. “Hey, uh, is Maggie okay?”

Sarah turned to Maggie and noticed she was asleep, snoring with her head hung off to the side. She nudged her arm which caused her to jolt awake.

“Huh, wha!?” said Maggie as she gripped the wheelchair before regaining her composure. She then saw Blair and the others, clearing her throat. “Oh! Hello. Welcome back,” she said with a tense smile.

Blair gave her a smile then looked to Sarah. “How’re the mechs doing? Are the guys getting them ready to go?” she asked.

Sarah gave a nod, motioning for them to follow her and Lucia towards the mech storage area. They began moving further into the hangar as she gave Blair an update. “Your mechs are currently being charged and inspected as we speak. The crew is conducting the usual diagnostics to make sure everything is running smoothly before you take them onto the track.”

The group finally entered the section where the mechs were stored, stopping to take in the sight of their massive racing robots shining under the bright, industrial lights. The three mechs belonging to Team Balisong were very similar in body style, boasting a color scheme akin to the F-22 Raptor, the American fighter jet Blair, Roxanne, and Sarah flew while in the military. Their back boosters also used aesthetics similar to the vectoring-nozzles found on the F-22, another nod to the aircraft. They were sleek in design, utilizing the latest in reinforced carbon-fiber technology in a lot of their parts. The designs for the mechs were created with certain goals in mind. They had to be agile and lightweight, but capable enough to carry enough armor to withstand a well-placed blow if hit. The mechs utilized a very minimalist and streamline design, only using the essentials without worrying about dazzling the crowd; the team’s skills and victories did that for them.

“Glad to see they’re still looking superb. I see they repaired the damage from the last race. Can hardly tell that there was a huge scratch across the center,” said Blair as she approached the near twenty-foot tall mechs to get a closer look.

“Give my crew some credit; they’re the best in the business,” said Lucia as she was wheeled next to Blair. “They’ve been doing periodic checkups on the bots, coming in every weekend to make sure they were at least still in one piece.”

“Yeah yeah. I’m just pulling their legs. We wouldn’t be able to do what we do without their expertise, just like the maintenance crews who worked on our jets back in the military,” said Blair, looking up at her unit and admiring the mech’s head.

What made the mechs of Team Balisong iconic were their stylized heads. They were fashioned to resemble a fox’s head, a tribute to Lucia’s old team. The front of the head was pointed to make the nose and snout. In the back, two aerodynamic fins were added to make the ears of the fox. All three models had a pair of glowing eyes styled to represent a menacing glare. The midfielder and defender models had amber colored eyes while the forward boasted red eyes.

“Coach, the decals on my bot are starting to wear out. I can barely make them out anymore,” said Miharu as she stepped up to her mech.

Lucia had Maggie push her over to Miharu, stopping next to her. “The crew said the vinyl stickers wouldn’t be available until next week, so don’t worry about it; it’s only cosmetic, so it’s not a priority,” said Lucia.

Miharu gave Lucia a nod and peeked into her cockpit. “Ryoukai (Roger),” she said.

The decals Miharu was referring to were of U.S. Air Force logos and emblems. While most IGPX teams had corporate sponsors or private investors, Team Balisong was sponsored by the U.S. Government, specifically the U.S. Air Force. When they team first asked for their help in the forms of financial aid and equipment, they agreed to advertise and help in recruitment by decking out their bots in Air Force logos. This was only a short-term arrangement, however, and Sarah had other plans for Team Balisong. The team needed a quick infusion of resources and the Air Force wanted to experiment with advertising in the IGPX; it was a win-win for both sides.

The contract only lasted a few years and after it was over, Team Balisong no longer needed to sport the logos during their races and the Air Force would create their own team. By that time, Sarah hoped to have scored a private-sector sponsor, or numerous ones even, to keep the team afloat. She gambled that they would have made enough publicity to acquire the necessary assets by the time the contract ended. That way, they no longer needed to rely on the U.S. Air Force for help. But, if everything fell through, and they didn’t meet their goals, she was able to renew the contract for another few years, but she didn’t want to do that; she wanted to be as independent as possible.

As Blair and Miharu inspected their bots, Shizune was helping one of the crew disconnect the power line to her bot. “Looks like they’re juiced up and ready to go, Captain,” said Shizune to Blair.

“Once the diagnostics are done, you can take them onto the track. No shortcuts. Make sure everything is in the green before you leave,” said Lucia. “I don’t want an incident because you were too eager to get out there and overlooked something vital.”

“Roger that, ma’am,” said Blair.

While the crew was finishing up with the check-ups on the bots, Blair and the other pilots got changed into their race suits. The suits were designed like the U.S. Air Force equivalents, imitating the same helmet design and camo scheme. Roxanne got changed as well and would be switching off with each member during the practice session. Sarah and Lucia agreed that Roxanne was the best pilot on the team overall, having been accustomed to all three roles, but amongst the pilots themselves, they agreed that Blair was the best, even Roxanne.

After securing the last strap to her suit and picking up her helmet, Blair left the changing room with the other pilots, rendezvousing in the hangar with Sarah and Lucia. “Are they ready to go?” asked Blair.

“Diagnostics are complete and you’re cleared for launch,” said Sarah as she tapped on her digital display pad. “The benefit of getting here this early is that we don’t have to worry about getting reservations on the track. We’ve got it booked for the next three hours, so make ‘em count.”

Blair gave her a nod and continued walking to her bot along with Shizune and Miharu. Roxanne gave them a wave and went over to Sarah, Lucia, and Maggie. The four of them wished the pilots good luck before taking an elevator up to the track’s observation deck. Inside their mechs, the pilots initiated start-up procedures and strapped in.

After slipping on her helmet, Blair tapped the radio on. “Check check. This is Blair. All systems go,” she said. Her helmet was akin to the fighter-pilot version she was used to, even sporting her callsign, Brass, above the visor. It was nearly identical except with a few modifications. Unlike her military helmet, the one she was currently using lacked a polarized visor. Instead, it was clear so she could clearly see the mech’s readouts. The oxygen hose was also removed, but the lower section still remained that covered her mouth and nose.

“Anko, ready to roll out!” said Shizune and Miharu together. The two wore the same helmet Blair was using, having added their own personal touches to the back and sides.

Sarah tapped on her pad and gave them the green light. “Team Balisong, everything checks out and we hear you loud and clear. Head on out to the track and take your starting positions,” she said through her headset.

As the indicator lights in the mech hangar all turned green, Blair’s bot and the others were released from their harnesses. The maintenance crew stood back as the mechs began taking their first steps towards the practice track. From the hangar, the mechs stepped onto an elevator which brought them up to track-level. The practice track was shaped in an oval with the sides elongated into straight-aways. Along the way, there were bumps and small changes in elevation to entertain the racers as they tuned their machines to near perfection, amongst other optional obstacles. If the team ever got bored with going in a counter-clockwise oval, they were allowed to go in the opposite direction to change things up a bit.

It was still near pitch black out as the chilly morning atmosphere enveloped the machines. In the stillness of the early morning air, there was hardly any sound emanating from their surroundings; the city was mostly still asleep or just getting ready for the day. The only thing that was heard were the loud steps of the mechs making their way onto the track, the sound of metal hitting metal echoing throughout the complex.

“Take it nice and easy, Balisong. We don’t want to overdo it before the training begins now do we?” said Sarah through her headset as she gazed upon the bots from the observation deck, which also acted as the main control center for the track. Inside the control center, it was just her, Maggie, Roxanne, and Lucia watching the team. Sarah flipped a switch which brought all the lights along the track to life. The entire length of the practice track was illuminated thoroughly, making it seem almost as if it were daytime.

“Just take one lap to warm up the mechs and work out the kinks of sitting idle for so long. Nothing fancy out there, you get me?” said Lucia, using a headset as well to communicate with the pilots.

“Roger that, ma’am. Nice and easy it is,” said Blair as she took up her place on the starting grid. The three mechs moved into position and prepared for the countdown.

Sarah placed her pad on the table and looked to Lucia. “Ready to see the newest IG-1 racers in action?” she asked with a smile.

“More than ever. Let’s just hope they haven’t gone rusty in the offseason,” said Lucia, her gaze unyielding and her voice firm.

Sarah acknowledged, giving her a nod as she initiated the countdown lights. On the track, Blair and the twins revved their bots as the red prep lights came on. Blair tightened her grip on the controls, testing the nozzles on her back boosters by moving them back and forth. In her cockpit, Shizune used her controls to rotate her mech’s wrists then clenched its hands into fists. Miharu, on the other hand, cracked her knuckles and started humming to herself, remembering a catchy tune that had been stuck in her head for days now.

On the track display, a yellow light appeared, followed by another then another. When the sold green light finally appeared, Blair and the others activated their boosters to get a head start off the starting grid. The sudden boost of speed was a welcoming feeling to the tenured fighter pilots as they barreled off down the first straight-away. They were only able to use their boosters for short periods of time, or else they’d overheat and risk damage to the mech. The boosters were used mainly for quick maneuvers, such as dodging an attack or getting into a better offensive position. Rarely were they used for actual racing as they didn’t function in speed-mode, but it wasn’t totally out of the question in fight-mode.

Blair was at the front of a V-formation, leading the three mechs along the track. “How do things look on your end?” she asked as she kept the mech steady.

Sarah checked over the mechs’ vitals on her pad, switching between the three machines. “Everything looks good so far. Boosters are operating at one hundred percent, stabilizers are functioning properly, and your power supply seems to be holding up. Just take the team around the track then bring ‘er in for a checkup. After that, we’ll let you start pushing yourselves.”

Lucia nodded in approval as she watched the mechs on the monitors. “Initiate warm-up routines. Get those bots nice and limber before I let you off the leash,” she said.

“Copy that, Coach. See ya in a bit,” said Blair.

Shizune broke formation and moved up next to Blair. “Hey Brass, want to do a little hand-to-hand practice with me and Miharu?” she asked.

“That’s a negative, Zuzu. Coach wants us to just warm-up the bots, so no fancy stuff, remember? Best we don’t piss her off this early into training; it’ll be a living hell if we do. After we bring them in for the preliminary check-up, then we can have our fun,” said Blair.

Shizune sighed over the radio as did Miharu. “Guess that works for us. Take the lead, Cap’n,” said Shizune as she returned to formation.

“Good. Now you all know what to do. Standard warm-up routine,” said Blair. She led the team in simple warm-up exercises which included racing backwards, jumping, and boost maneuvers. The wide variety of movements was meant to test the bots’ hydraulics, gyros, and other moving parts to make sure they could handle the stress the pilots were putting them through. When the team rounded the last bend, the twins couldn’t help but be their mischievous selves. As they came to the final stretch of track along the straight-away, Miharu and Shizune put their mechs into full throttle after changing to speed-mode, zooming past Blair.

“Last one there is a prickly platypus!” said Miharu. She and Shizune were neck-and-neck as they began putting distance between them and Blair.

Unable to contain her competitive nature, Blair happily obliged them. “Oh, it’s on!” she said as she engaged her boosters for a quick dash of speed. Afterwards, she changed into speed-mode and put her bot into full throttle as well, gradually catching up to the other two.

Their mechs were operating at full capacity as they raced down the track, sparks flying as their metal skis glided over the pavement. Hill after hill, they bounded over them with ease as Shizune and Miharu maintained their lead over their captain. Blair was running out of time as the finish line rapidly approached. She had to think fast as they approached the last hill. When the twins went over the top, Blair changed back into fight-mode and engaged her boosters just before she reached the peak. She gained extra air from her jump which put her right in front of the other two as she landed, changing back into speed-mode as she crossed the finish line in first place.

“Zurui desuyo! (Unfair!) That’s cheating!” said Miharu as she engaged the drag flaps and brakes. The others did the same and skidded to a stop, changing back to fight-mode.

Blair chuckled to herself as she started skating past the twins, heading towards the starting line. “Cheating? More like… improvising. Besides, you two started it,” she said.

Shizune huffed in her defeat, following behind her with a groan. “Well maybe you can use that in a real race. We’ll need every trick we can get,” she said.

The three mechs skated along the track, making their way back onto the elevator. Once they were all on, it began descending back to the hangar level for their check-up.

As they were headed down, Lucia’s voice popped into Blair’s helmet. “And just what in the hell was that? I told you no funny business,” she said over the radio.

Back in the observation deck, Sarah chuckled as she turned to Lucia. “I believe they were putting the bots through a routine stress test, ma’am,” she said.

Lucia returned Sarah’s smile with a piercing glare of disapproval. She didn’t like having her orders disobeyed or Sarah covering for her pilots, but because nothing went wrong, and what Sarah said was somewhat true, she let it slide as she usually did. “Right… a routine stress test,” she said before looking back out the window.

Blair was startled by the sudden authoritative voice in her ears. “Funny business? What? No. That? That was just… a speed test! Yeah. Just wanted to test out the mech’s speed-mode and stress under max speed,” she said.

Lucia sighed and interlocked her fingers together, resting her chin on her hands as she looked at the monitors, specifically the monitor with Blair’s cockpit feed on it. “I see. How’s the bot doing then?” she asked.

“Fine. Perfectly fine. Purrin’ like a kitten,” said Blair with a nervous smile, though the bottom portion of her helmet covered her mouth.

“Mmmhmm. We’ll be monitoring the crew’s assessment of your bots from here. When they give you the green light again, you can head back up to the track,” said Lucia.

When the mechs arrived back in the hangar, Blair and the others walked them back to their maintenance harnesses and locked them in. Once they were secure, the pilots got out while the pit crew took over, attaching cables and wires to the bots to get performance readings and data.

In the meantime, Blair decided to have a little chat with her trouble-making teammates. She casually walked over to Shizune and Miharu, nonchalantly placing her hands on their shoulders as she stood between the two. “So… guys… what was that all about? Trying to make your fearless leader look bad?” she asked.

Once Blair laid her hands on the two from behind, they both slowly looked to her as they began to tremble. Blair’s grip was firm, signaling to the twins that she wasn’t in the mood for nonsense. “Wh- What do you mean, Brass-sempai? We were just…” said Shizune, trailing off.

Miharu gulped and picked up from where her sister left off. “…warming our bots up,” she said.

“Yeah, sure you two were. You’re just lucky Coach didn’t chew me out over the radio,” said Blair, patting them on the back. Once Blair left, Miharu and Shizune returned to their old selves, chuckling and speaking in Japanese as they went to grab a snack. After dealing with the twins, Blair went to observe the personnel working on her bot.

The crew didn’t waste a moment as they collected the information they needed from the bots. It was all sent to the control center where Sarah and Lucia analyzed it, scrutinizing over every detail. They notified the mechanics to make a few adjustments from their findings and gave the team the go-ahead to head back out.

“All right. Time to put it into high gear. You ready, team?” asked Blair as she took her place back on the starting grid, comfortably back inside her bot. The twins acknowledged over the radio and gave a thumbs-up with their bots. Blair returned the gesture and looked forward, crouching into her starting stance.

In the control center, Roxanne watched from above, peering out the window at the three mechs. She then looked to her superiors and walked over to them. “What are they going to be doing this lap?” she asked, glancing at the monitors along with them. She focused on Blair’s monitor, smiling at her girlfriend’s confidence.

“Oh, we have a few surprises in store for them. You’ll see,” said Lucia with a smirk. She whispered something to Sarah to which she nodded in acknowledgement, smirking as well.

“Okay, Balisong. Round two. I’m starting the countdown,” said Sarah as she flipped the switch for the starting lights.

Lucia looked to the pilots, tapping her headset. “Stay frosty, team. And this time, all you need to focus on is- surviving,” she said.

Back on the track, Blair held a hand to her helmet. “Surviving? Uh, copy that, Coach,” she said, a hint of apprehension in her voice.

Shizune and Miharu gulped at Lucia’s words, also a bit worried. “What do you think she meant by that, Brass?” asked Shizune.

“I don’t know, but we’ll soon find out. Stay close and keep alert,” said Blair as she kept her eyes glued to the flashing yellow lights. Once the lights turned green, they darted off the starting grid, moving into their standard V-formation. Shizune and Miharu kept their guard up, flanking Blair to protect her from any threat that might pop up.

Even though they were similar, each bot had a specialization and specific role in the overall Team Balisong strategy. Blair used a modified forward design which was capable of high speeds and boasted formidable combat ability. Where she excelled in speed and power, she lacked in defense. Her strategy was to hit and not be hit, to attack in order to defend. So in keeping with these principles, she only opted for the minimum amount of armor. The carbon-fiber helped keep the overall weight down while retaining an ample amount of protection, but it was much less than her teammates’ bots.

The defender and midfielder models were slightly different from Blair’s forward model. They sported more armor, which made them slower than Blair, but their main purpose wasn’t racing to the finish line. Their arms had titanium armor plating, allowing them to hit harder while taking more hits. Like Blair, though, they replaced a lot of metal plating with carbon-fiber on their main chassis, making them lightweight and agile. The two models were very similar, almost interchangeable. Their main focus was to distract the enemy while keeping them away from Blair. When an opening appeared, Blair would boost in for a decisive hit, then dash away before she could get cornered.

While they watched the three mechs streak down the track, Sarah and Lucia prepared the track for round two, giggling deviously on the inside in anticipation. They turned on the track’s many obstacles and readied their fingers on the toggles.

Sarah looked to Lucia and smiled. “Would you like the honor of starting us off?” she asked.

Lucia smirked, moving a hand over to the console. “It would be my pleasure,” she said, flipping the switch.

Maggie chuckled at the older women while Roxanne kept her attention on the track monitors following the mechs. ‘ _Be careful out there, Hon. Don’t do anything foolish now_ ,’ thought Roxanne to herself.

Back on the track, Blair and the others continued along unhindered for the moment. “Something doesn’t feel right. Maintain high alert. It’s coming… whatever it is,” said Blair as she fidgeted slightly in her seat. Suddenly, gaps in the track started to appear as the team broke formation to dodge the holes. “Look out!” said Blair as she gripped the controls tightly.

Miharu and Shizune broke left and right to avoid the sudden gap while Blair jumped over it using her boosters. As soon as Blair landed safely after clearing the hole with ease, more started to form out in front of her.

“So this is what they planned, huh? Well we’ve seen this before, ladies, so let’s not lose our heads just yet!” said Blair as she weaved in and out of the gaps, keeping mindful of her teammates’ locations.

The three mechs moved gracefully as they easily avoided the holes in the track, using a combination of quick maneuvers and jumps to continue along unimpeded. Blair had done this before numerous times on the same track, so it didn’t surprise her. She even remembered some of the track’s patterns and positioned herself in the best possible spots, effortlessly skimming around the hazards.

“Stay behind me and we’ll make it through no problem. But keep cautious; this can’t be everything,” said Brass as she kept her eyes ahead on the track.

“They seem to be doing quite well, as expected,” said Sarah as she continued to watch from the observation deck.

Lucia looked to another set of switches and flipped a few more on. “Indeed. Time to take it up a notch…,” she said.

Sarah chuckled as she put her hands in her pockets. “Let’s hope our pilots don’t get too roughed up out there, or their bots for that matter,” she said with a wily smirk.

Meanwhile, Blair and the twins were having no trouble at all on the track. They were already passed the halfway point, making their way towards the finish line with ease.

“Almost there, ladies. Maybe this is easier than we’d thought it’d be,” said Blair, suddenly letting her guard down. Just after she said that, a streak of blue skimmed over her mech, hitting the track in front of her. She jerked on the controls and spun around to see the source of the shot. “What the hell was that!?” she said.

In the air above them were mechanized drones firing concentrated stun rounds. The rounds were only potent enough to render maybe a limb or small portion of the mech they hit inoperable. It was a new addition to the practice track and Lucia was very eager to test them out. A swarm of ten small, disc-shaped drones opened fire on Blair and the others, making the simply routine test much more complicated. They were able to hover, only sporting a single rotor for flight, and attacked using their stun gun.

“What are those things? Are they part of the track?” asked Shizune in an alarmed tone as she observed the drones.

One of the drones flew by and got a lucky shot on Miharu’s bot, directly hitting her left arm. It went limp and no matter how hard she pulled on the controls, it didn’t respond. “Uh, whatever they are, don’t get hit. My left arm just went dead after getting hit by one of those things,” said Miharu, trying to keep her cool under pressure.

Blair cursed under her breath at the new addition to their run. But fortunately for them, they were already nearing the last straight-away towards the finish line. “Watch yourself, gals. We’re almost there. Just keep cool,” she said, pushing herself to the max in order to dodge both the gaps in the track and the drones flying overhead through the air.

Rumbling down the track, the three of them struggled to keep on their feet. All three of them were constantly using their boosters to dodge the hazards and incoming enemy fire, but due to the chaotic addition of the drones, they sometimes bumped into each other. Several times they got hit, making Blair more frustrated with each mishap. To their relief, the holes had stopped forming, but the “damage” they sustained from the drones was beginning to add up. Shizune had lost the function of her boosters and her left leg was sluggish. Her sister, Miharu, still couldn’t use her left arm and her torso was hit, causing her to slouch over slightly. Blair sustained the least damage so far, only losing the use of her right arm. The three of them saw the finish line ahead of them, putting everything they had left into crossing the threshold. The drones kept on their tails, continuing their barrage of stun rounds.

Suddenly, the team sustained their first casualty as one of them went down hard. “Mimi! Help!” said Shizune as her legs gave way to a stun round. Her bot fell forward onto its face, sparks flying as she skidded across the track, metal scrapping against pavement. Miharu and Blair turned to see Shizune fall and spun around, dashing over to her.

“Don’t worry, Zuzu. We got you,” said Miharu as she and Blair helped pick her up.

Each of them took an arm and slung it around their shoulders, hurrying for the finish line. When they arrived at the end, all three of them jumped over the line, barely making it before their bots were completely immobilized by the drones. They bounced a bit along the pavement for several yards down the track, skidding and sparking all the way until finally ending up on their backs and coming to a complete stop.

As she watched from the control deck, Roxanne grabbed a headset and put it on. “Blair! Blair, are you okay?” she asked, looking down at Blair’s mech lying on the track.

Sarah and Lucia watched the team finish with approval, though Sarah was a bit concerned about their condition. “Do you think that was a bit much?” asked Sarah to Lucia.

Lucia turned to her with a positive expression. “They made it back, didn’t they? Besides… we had to test the new additions sooner or later. Might as well give them a taste of what’s to come over the next few weeks,” she said.

Sarah sighed and shrugged her shoulders. “You’re the coach. I’ll leave the training to you. I just hope the bots aren’t too badly damaged,” she said.

“Don’t worry. The stuff the drones are using is completely mech-friendly. The most damage that we should see are mere scraps and scratches. Once we restart the mechs’ systems and give them a jumpstart, everything should be back to normal,” said Lucia, reassuring her colleague that she knew what she was doing.

Sarah gave her a nod and looked back to the monitors, seeing the three mechs still strewn about on the track down below. “I sure hope so,” she said.

Inside her cockpit, Blair was staring vacantly ahead of her, grimacing at the blank screen. She grumbled with displeasure within her helmet until she started hearing Roxanne’s voice in her headset. She snapped out of her frustration and responded. “Yeah. I’m fine. Just… dandy,” said Blair with gritted teeth.

Roxanne sighed with relief, moving closer to one of the monitors. “Are you hurt? Can you get out of your mech?” she asked.

Blair undid her safety harness and grasped the emergency release lever on her cockpit. “I’m okay. Just a little worked up is all,” she said, opening up the hatch. It was still dark out but along the track, the lights were still on which made it somewhat blinding. Raising her hand to block the light, she slowly climbed out of her mech and looked to the observation deck. “Well, we made it to the finish. Now how does Coach expect us to make it back to the hangar? Our bots are totally dead.”

Just then, Lucia’s voice came on the radio. “Suck it up, Captain. Your bots are fine. Other than a few scrapes and scratches, there shouldn’t be any major damage. The stun rounds are bot-friendly and after we get the crew down there to jumpstart your bots, you’ll be up and running in no time. Just standby for now,” she said.

Blair let out an annoyed sigh and acknowledged, still a bit ticked off about the recent turn of events. “Roger that, ma’am. I’ll check on Anko in the meantime,” she said, looking to the other two bots beside hers. She tapped her helmet and checked in with her teammates. “Shizune. Miharu. Status report,” she said.

Shizune and Miharu exited their bots and stood up in the cockpit, stretching their arms up into the air. They were fine and just roughed up a bit from the fall, but other than that, they sustained no other injuries. Blair jumped down from her bot and walked over to them, who jumped down as well to meet her. When the pit crew arrived with the equipment to jumpstart the mechs’ engines, Blair and the others inspected their bots to make sure nothing major was damaged. The crew hooked up each bot to a portable generator and juiced them up, allowing them to return to the shelter. Blair, Shizune, and Miharu returned to their cockpits and walked their mechs back into the hangar, securing them in their maintenance harnesses. Lucia, Sarah, Maggie, and Roxanne were already waiting for them there, watching as the battered bots walked passed.

When her mech was locked in, Blair took off her helmet and exited her bot, heading straight for Lucia and Sarah. “So what the hell was that? I thought we were ‘taking it easy’ today,” she said with air quotes, a hint of defiance in her voice as she approached them with a bit of an attitude in her step.

Lucia remained calm and collected, her hands folded in her lap. “This was a mere example of what you will be facing in the IG-1. You can almost never predict what you will be up against, so the drones were there to test your responsiveness to unforeseen challenges. And I have to say, you and the others need some work,” she said firmly, looking Blair straight in the eye.

“We also wanted to try them out, but that was just a secondary objective,” said Sarah, standing next to Lucia with her hands in her pockets.

Blair grimaced as Shizune and Miharu came up behind her; they too were looking less than enthusiastic about the latest training exercise. “Well what do we do now? How long do you think until the bots are ready to go?” asked Blair, crossing her arms over her chest.

“They’ll be ready in half an hour. In the meantime, the four of you will need a debrief about what just happened out there. We saw several instances where you acted amateurishly and not as a team. Now let’s go; time’s wasting,” said Lucia as she had Maggie wheel her to one of the briefing rooms.

While the bots were being fixed and recharged, Sarah and Lucia led the debrief for Blair and the other pilots, including Roxanne. They highlighted several points during the last lap where the pilots were unaware of each other’s movements. Due to their lack of teamwork, they sustained more hits than they would have had Blair coordinated the team better. Lucia was firm during her talk with them, but offered several ways for them to address their problems and improve as a team. Even though Blair was irritated at Lucia for belittling her leadership and decisions out there, in hindsight, she understood where she was coming from and didn’t harbor any negativity towards her coach in the end. Lucia was, after all, more experienced and tenured in the IGPX realm, especially in the IG-1 world, so Blair remained attentive and took her advice and guidance to heart.

Once the bots were ready, everyone left the briefing room to head back down to the hangar. Along the way, Shizune came up to Roxanne and began walking alongside her. “Yo, just wanted to remind you not to change any of my preferences, kay? It takes me forever to readjust my bot every time someone changes anything,” said Shizune.

Roxanne looked over next to her, switching her helmet to her other hand. “Don’t worry, Shizune. I’ll figure it out like I always do. Shouldn’t take me too long to get back into the groove of things,” she said with a reassuring smile.

“Good. After this race, you’ll be riding in Miharu’s bot, right? So you shouldn’t have too much trouble getting used to it after racing in mine,” said Shizune. For the next race, she was told by her coach to give up her position to Roxanne, allowing her to get some experience on the track with the bots; it also allowed her sister, Miharu, to get more used to racing without Shizune as her partner, in case Roxanne was ever needed in a real race to substitute for one of them.

“Just hope she doesn’t switch up her controls again, like she always does,” said Roxanne, sighing at her teammate’s finicky temperament when it came to her control schemes.

Upon entering the hangar and seeing their bots ready to go, the pilots made their way to their respective bots. After the briefing, Blair was more than prepared to handle the track and drones. As she started up her bot, she went over several scenarios and formations in her head to counter the new threat.

Lucia, Sarah, Maggie, and now Shizune returned to the observation deck, preparing for the next lap. “You ready this time, Brass?” asked Sarah as she prepared to start the countdown.

“Roger that, ma’am. I won’t let you down,” said Blair as she focused on the task at hand. She and her two teammates took up their positions at the starting line, more determined to improve upon their last performance.

Roxanne flexed her fingers and got reacquainted with the bot’s cockpit, making sure she knew where all the controls were; she was familiar with all three bots, but over time they all started to blend together in her mind. She breathed in, held it for a brief moment, then exhaled softly as she prepared herself to race. She didn’t want to let her girlfriend down, so she planned to do her best to have all three of them make it to the finish line unscathed. She smiled as she glanced to Blair’s bot ahead of her. “We got this, Blair. Don’t worry. You’ll do fine,” she said, trying to bolster her leader’s confidence.

Hearing her words of encouragement, Blair chuckled with a smirk. “Thanks, Babe. I’m sure we won’t have any problems this time,” she said. And with that, the lights turned green and they were off.


	3. A New Rival Appears

The rest of the morning was spent doing routine drills and exercises, though not as intensive as the second lap, but still pretty challenging. By the end of their three-hour reserved slot, Blair and the other pilots were sore and worn-out. Lucia worked them to their limit, conducting several scenarios and drills for them to work out. Once it was all over, Lucia had them all gather in the briefing room for an hour-long classroom session. During the session, she went over a full debrief about the day’s training exercises, hitting on areas where the team excelled and areas where they needed improvement. After she and Sarah were done with the team, they dismissed them for the rest of the day.

“All right, team. Good work out there. Now hit the showers,” said Lucia from the front of the briefing room.

The team was sitting at desks in front of her, barely able to keep their heads up. Blair groaned as she tried to stand up. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Lucia, Sarah, and Maggie leaving the room, heading off to oversee the bots’ maintenance before returning home. Her body ached but she finally managed to stand up, stretching her arms above her head before stumbling a bit.

Roxanne got up and stood beside her, giving her a smile as she wrapped an arm around her waist. “Need help there, Hon?” she asked.

Blair smiled as well, placing her hands-on Roxanne to help steady herself. “I’m good. Just more out of shape than I thought,” she said.

“C’mon. Let’s get washed up then I’ll treat you to lunch. Just the two of us,” said Roxanne.

“Sounds delightful,” said Blair, giving her a nod as she headed for the door.

The two of them made their way to the locker rooms, stowing their helmets away in their designated lockers before disrobing. As Blair went about removing her race suit, her limbs stung and ached as she finally got it off, a bit of steam escaping from within her suit as the cool air rushed inside. Her undergarments were slightly soaked with the perspiration from earlier, so as she gladly removed her panties and sports bra, she sighed with relief as the air nipped at her fully exposed body. It felt very soothing as her skin was allowed to breathe freely, completely devoid of layers of clothes that suffocated it.

Next to her, Roxanne followed suit and retrieved her toiletries before heading towards the shower room. “You coming?” she asked, stopping to look back at Blair.

Seeing Roxanne naked caused Blair to smile slightly as her eyes wandered to more naughty areas of her body. “You go on ahead. I’ll catch up. Just need to put my stuff away,” said Blair, waving her off as she stood in front of her locker.

Roxanne gave a nod then proceeded on into the shower room, leaving Blair to herself. There were already sounds of running water when Roxanne entered the room; Miharu and Shizune were already there, washing their hair and rinsing their bodies.

Even though the area around them was full of steam and the sounds of rushing water, Shizune was able to sense Roxanne come in. “About time you joined us. Where’s Blair?” she asked, lathering shampoo into her hair.

Finding a spot next to them, Roxanne turned on the water and waited for it to get warm. “She’s in the locker room taking care of her race suit. She’ll be here soon,” she said, testing the water with her hand. Once it was the right temperature, she stepped into the stream, sighing with relief as she let the water run down her body.

Meanwhile, back in the locker room, Blair was sitting on a bench with her chin resting on her hands. She exhaled tiredly, staring blankly ahead of her as several thoughts and concerns swam in her head. The day’s training proved quite formidable and challenged whether Team Balisong was ready for the teams of the IG-1, but more importantly, whether Blair was fit enough to lead the team to victory within the league. She ran a hand through her hair after letting it down from its ponytail, slicking it back as she sat up straight. What did she have to worry about? She was confident she was suitable to lead the team as she shook her head, smirking to herself a bit with a chuckle. Blair slapped her hands on her thighs then stood up, pushing any doubts out of her head as she headed for the showers with the team.

Upon making her way into the showers, Blair snuck up behind Roxanne and slapped her on the behind. “What’s shakin’, bacon?” she said with a grin.

Roxanne yelped and looked over her shoulder before rinsing her hair. “What took ya?” she asked, her body still facing the wall.

Blair smiled tenderly, moving closer to Roxanne as she stepped under the water with her. She wrapped her arms around Roxanne’s waist, pressing her chest against her back as she cooed softly. “Nothing. Just making sure my uniform was in order,” said Blair, closing her eyes as she began kissing Roxanne’s neck. Shizune and Miharu rolled their eyes in unison and turned their backs to the two love birds, giving them some privacy as they continued to wash their bodies.

As she felt Blair nipping at the back of her neck, Roxanne grinned at the delightful feeling, purring slightly as she moved her hands through her hair. “Oh… Feeling frisky, are we?” she asked, turning around to face her.

“Mmmm… just a little,” said Blair, opening her eyes and gazing into Roxanne’s. The two of them remained staring at each other for a few moments, lusty smiles present on both of their faces. As the water rained down on their heads, Blair began inching closer, her heart beating faster with each moment as Roxanne stared back, her expression equally as wanting. With a deliberate and subtle movement, they embraced in a kiss, inhaling deeply as their arms wrapped around each other’s backs.

After the twins left the showers, Blair and Roxanne stayed behind to enjoy each other’s company for a few more minutes, passionately engaging in intimate caressing and kissing. When their urges were finally satisfied, they finished cleaning up and got dressed in their casual wear. As they were leaving the locker rooms with their gym bags slung over their shoulders, they happened to run into another IGPX team which had reserved the slot on the track after theirs.

“Well look who it is? A couple of Grade-A celebrities,” said one of the team members, a mocking smirk on his face. He was wearing an IGPX race suit, as were his other two teammates.

Blair stopped in front of the three and crossed her arms over her chest. “…Vincent. Done already?” she asked, giving him a sarcastic look. “We’ve been here for three hours already, warming up the track for you.”

Vincent was the leader of Team Wyvern, an IG-2 team Blair and the others used to race against. He was a cocky pilot, and despite leading his team to more defeats than victories, he still believed himself to be part of the elite. “All we need is one hour, Baby Doll,” he said with his trademark sleazy grin. “Maybe if you reserved your slot sooner, you would’ve gotten one when there was actually light out.”

“Typical Wyvern attitude. Always taking the easy way out,” said Roxanne, moving up next to Blair and mirroring her pose. “You know, you can’t always do things when it’s most convenient. Sometimes you just need to seize the opportunity when it presents itself.” She scoffed at him, her smirk growing on her face. “How do you think we got to the IG-1? By working hard and making good use of every opportunity we could get our hands on… like beating jerks like you, that’s how.”

Vincent chuckled a bit, not caring for Team Balisong’s sudden claim to fame. “Whatever you say, _back-up pilot_. You’re just riding the coat tails of your fellow teammates as they move on up in the world, and-”

Before he could utter another word, Blair formed her hand into a fist and punched him right across the jaw. The force of the blow and the precision at which she struck knocked him right off his feet. His two teammates gasped and were about to come to his aid, but Roxanne moved in front of them, keeping them at bay away from friend and her foe.

While Vincent was on the ground, Blair stood over him, grimacing as she cracked her knuckles. “How dare you speak to Roxanne like that? You’ve got some balls on you if you think you can get away disrespecting a veteran officer of the United States military. Two officers if you count me as well,” she said. She knelt down and firmly grasped his suit, pulling him up to meet her unyielding gaze. “Listen here, punk. I’ve put up with your nonsense for far too long. Just because your parents are super rich, doesn’t mean you can walk all over others as you please.”

Vincent looked away, scoffing at her. “Oh please…,” he said still with a sarcastic tone.

“Look at me, you prick,” said Blair as she jerked at his suit, causing him to look back at her. “You see, Roxanne and I actually had to _work_ to get to where we are. We had to grab life by the balls and take what was owed to us… unlike you. You can do whatever you want, buy whatever you please without giving a second thought to how you can do so.”

Being his usual rebellious self, Vincent rolled his eyes in defiance. “Yeah, and what of it? You jealous that I’m rich and didn’t have to work a second in my life?” he asked.

Hearing his remark, Blair gritted her teeth and smacked him across the face with her other hand. “But you forget one thing: Roxanne and I paid our dues, gritting our teeth in the military. We’ve had our fair share of hard work and having to fend for ourselves. We’re quite good at it actually.” She leaned closer, nearly bumping foreheads as her tone grew darker and more firm. “And we’ve even had to _kill_ to get to where we are. Don’t you forget that.”

“Are you… threatening me?” asked Vincent with a wily smile on his face.

Blair grimaced and let go of him, smacking him upside the head before standing back up. “If I was threatening you, you would know,” she said before kicking him in the gut and giving a death glare to his two other teammates. “Let’s get going, Roxy. I’m frickin’ starving,” she said as she began walking away.

Roxanne complied and left Team Wyvern to lick their wounds. As Blair walked off, she came to her side. “Hey, I appreciate you sticking up for me, but I’m a big girl. I can handle myself,” she said as she took one of Blair’s hands in hers.

“I know. I’m sorry for losing my cool back there. It’s just I hate it when other pilots bash on you just because you’re our back-up pilot, you know? And I especially hate it when my girlfriend gets dissed right in front of me by some low life,” said Blair, turning to Roxanne with a smile as she gently tightened her grip on her hand.

“Thanks, Hon. I was starting to get sick of Vinny too. He’s such an ass,” said Roxanne, making a disgusted expression at the mere mention of him. “So, where do you want to eat?”

Blair took a moment to think about it, her stomach rumbling at the very thought of food. It didn’t care what they got; it only wanted to be satiated with adequate nourishment. Even so, she was suddenly in the mood for a particular type of cuisine. “Let’s go to Firebirds. I want to get a big, juicy burger,” she said, licking her lips.

“That sounds like an excellent idea. Can I… drive?” asked Roxanne.

Blair smiled and reached into her pocket, handing her the keys to her car which had a worn black cat keychain on it. “Sure. Just don’t scratch her up,” she said, placing an arm around Roxanne’s shoulders and bringing her close.

Roxanne gave her a wink and took the keys, sticking her tongue out playfully. “I’m hardly as bad as a driver as you are,” she said.

The two of them walked to the garage, passing by Lucia and Sarah in the mech hangar before leaving. They were still busy coordinating with the mechanics to better tune the bots after the training session. Blair and Roxanne quickly said hello and continued on their way to the car, greeting other teams and staff that started to pour into the complex.

When they got there, they made their way over to Blair’s vehicle; it was a golden-yellow Dodge Viper convertible, complete with a black, retractable soft top that was currently up. It sported two, thin light-green racing stripes down the middle and yellow sports rims. They didn’t see Shizune’s car, so they figured the two sisters had already taken off back home or somewhere else. When they got to Blair’s car, they stashed their gym bags in the trunk then got in.

“It’s rare that I ever get to drive the Viper. I’m going to savor this,” said Roxanne as she turned the key in the ignition. “Just sit back and relax. I’ll get ya there in no time.” As Blair buckled up in the passenger’s seat, Roxanne revved the engine, smirking as the V-10 roared under the hood.

“Take it easy now, Babe,” said Blair as she turned to Roxanne. “You gotta handle my baby delicately, you hear?”

Roxanne rolled her eyes and shifted into reverse, darting out of the parking space. “I thought I was your baby?” she asked lightheartedly, giving her the puppy-eyes expression.

Blair smiled and placed a hand on her cheek. “You are. But unlike the car, you like to be handled… rough,” she said.

“Don’t worry. I’ll take good care of her,” said Roxanne before switching into drive and driving out of the garage towards the restaurant. Along the way, Blair closed her eyes and rested while Roxanne listened to a playlist of songs Blair had preset in the car’s audio system. The drive to the restaurant was a bit longer than Blair expected. Roxanne suddenly decided to take a longer route to get more driving in, but Blair didn’t mind; she needed the extra few minutes of nap time.

When they finally arrived, Roxanne nudged Blair awake after turning off the engine. “We’re here. Wake up, sleepy-head,” she said.

Blair slowly came to and wiped the drool from the corner of her mouth. “Uh, wha?” she said, sitting up in her seat.

“We’re at the restaurant already,” said Roxanne as she exited the vehicle. “You were so cute sleeping so soundly, almost like a baby.” As Blair got out, still a bit groggy, Roxanne tossed her back the keys. “Thanks for letting me drive. It was fun.”

Catching them in one hand, Blair smirked. “If you’re lucky, I’ll let you drive something else later tonight…,” she said.

Roxanne was stumped for a second but soon got the lewd innuendo, chuckling as she shook her head. After closing the door to her car, Blair winced at the light assaulting her weary eyes. The sun was finally out and shining brightly in the sky. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her sleek, aviator sunglasses, the same ones she wore while still in the service. She put them on and followed Roxanne through the parking lot to the front of the restaurant.

“It was a nice nap, by the way,” said Blair after yawning freely. “But gee, I sure am hungry.”

“That’s good. I’m quite peckish too. I could really go for something big,” said Roxanne as she opened the door for Blair.

Blair gave her a smile and entered, following a waitress to a vacant table. After being handed menus and giving the waitress their drink orders, Blair and Roxanne were left alone at the table to decide on what to eat. The restaurant was famous for their gourmet burgers, boasting several combinations and fixings for their sandwiches. They perused the menu, salivating at the many options available to them.

“Oh~ Everything looks so good. I don’t know which to get,” said Blair, finding several possibilities for lunch on the menu.

“Well, I’m buying, so get whatever your heart- or stomach desires,” said Roxanne, smiling at her girlfriend.

Blair smirked, skimming over the menu. “I’ll keep that in mind,” she said, looking to her then back at the menu.

Roxanne smiled back, glancing away from the Blair and towards her own menu. When the waitress came back with their drinks, Blair and Roxanne ordered their burgers. Blair decided to get the Smokehouse Burger, a medium-well burger topped off with barbecue sauce, bacon, and sharp cheddar cheese. Roxanne, on the other hand, got the Bleu Cheese Burger which was made with mushrooms and a special bleu cheese dressing. With the orders written down, the waitress left to fulfill their orders.

In the meantime, Blair took a sip from her pink lemonade, opting out of something alcoholic since she was driving back to the apartment. “That was some pretty exhausting training, and I think she was actually taking it easy on us…,” she said with a heavy sigh.

Roxanne sampled her drink as well which was alcoholic; it was a cherry martini. “Yeah, well, you know how Coach is. She only wanted to push us to do better. Better prepare us for the IG-1, you know? Besides, it wasn’t THAT hard now, was it?”

Blair scoffed slightly, taking another sip of her drink. “Maybe not for you, Miss Prodigy. You were put in all three roles today and you didn’t even break a sweat. Maybe you should take the lead as the permanent forward…”

“Aww… is my little pumpkin feeling inadequate?” asked Roxanne in a teasing fashion.

Blair responded by playfully pouting like a child and nodding. The doubts she had just conquered an hour ago were starting to fill her head again. “…maybe,” she said.

Roxanne took Blair’s hand in hers from across the table, caressing it caringly. “But why? You’re an excellent leader. Even before the IGPX, you were always the leader and me the wingman. Oh, Blair…,” she said, taking Blair’s hand and tenderly kissing it. “Whatever doubts you might be having, please, remove them from thought. We couldn’t have gotten this far without you.”

Hearing Roxanne’s words of encouragement, Blair managed to crack a smile, nodding again. “Okay. I’ll try and pull myself together. A leader must be strong and confident, right?” she said.

“Yes. _You’re_ our leader, and don’t you forget that,” said Roxanne with a wink.

Blair started to get emotional, but held back the torrent of tears. She merely wiped the corners of her eyes and cleared her throat. Shortly after, their food arrived which directed their attention to something cheerier. The air around them was silent for a short period after their food hit the table, apart from the sounds of munching and sighs of contentment. Once they had a good sampling of their burgers and fries, they began talking again and switched topics.

After wiping her mouth of barbecue sauce using her napkin, Blair took a drink of her lemonade and exhaled with relief. “This is so good. I’m glad we got burgers,” she said.

“It is. To be honest, I’m not sure I can finish it all,” said Roxanne, only managing to finish half of her burger and fries.

“Don’t force it, Babe. You can bring it back home and finish it for dinner,” said Blair. She sprinkled more malt vinegar on her fries and popped one into her mouth. “So how did you like piloting Unit-01? I hope my personal configs didn’t make it too hard for you.”

Roxanne shrugged, fiddling with her drink. She didn’t want to push herself to finish her meal since she was completely full. “I’ve piloted her before, so it wasn’t too bad. It was more difficult just trying to get back into the groove of things after being out of the game for so long. But, I adjusted… as I always do,” she said.

“I still can’t believe that you can pilot all three units. If I had to get in either Shizune’s or Miharu’s mechs, I’d probably be tripping over myself before I can leave the hangar,” said Blair.

“They aren’t that much different from yours. At least they’re both practically the same bot,” said Roxanne.

“I guess. But that’s why you’re our Jack-of-all-Trades substitute. We can put you anywhere and you’d fit right in. Just like back in the Air Force. No matter what airframe you got into, you mastered it in just a few days. Unlike me. Once I got in the Raptor, I never wanted to leave,” said Blair.

Roxanne chuckled a bit, remembering the good times from their military service. “Yeah. I kinda miss flying high in the sky, but… racing several hundred miles per hour along a track on the ground isn’t bad either,” she said.

The two of them continued to chit chat and when the waitress came by with the bill, they had her box their leftovers. Blair could have finished her meal, but she didn’t want to look like a glutton in front of Roxanne since she was unable to finish hers. When the waitress asked if they wanted dessert, they declined, though Blair considered it for just a second after seeing several delectable choices on the menu. After Roxanne paid for their meal, they left the restaurant with their leftovers in tow.

Roxanne was a bit tipsy as they walked towards the car, having downed two and a half martinis. She decided to splurge a little, since she wasn’t driving, so every time the waitress asked if she wanted a refill, she happily obliged. “That was so good. We should come here more often…,” said Roxanne as she leaned on Blair, using her for balance.

“You always say that when we go to a place that serves your cherry martinis,” said Blair with a smile.

Roxanne’s cheeks were flush as she let out a giggle, holding on to Blair’s arm as if it were a big, cuddly teddy bear. Blair rolled her eyes as she smiled at her drunken mate, leading her back to the Viper. When they got there, she helped Roxanne into the car, fastening her seatbelt herself.

After making sure Roxanne was secure, Blair got into the driver’s seat and started it up, revving the engine. “Let’s go home,” she said.

#

It was the middle of the evening and everyone was back home at the apartment, relaxing after a hard day’s work. After Roxanne awoke from her alcohol-induced slumber, they all had dinner together, chatting about the morning’s training session. Blair and Roxanne had their leftovers from lunch while Shizune and Miharu fixed something quick in the kitchen, a noodle dish resembling ramen.

“So, where did you two go after training? We missed you before we left,” said Blair.

Shizune and Miharu exchanged glances then looked to her. “We didn’t want to intrude on your… private time,” said Shizune with a smirk, causing Blair and Roxanne to blush a little, slightly embarrassed that they made-out in the showers earlier.

“Instead, we decided to head out to get some lunch at Kanki. We just had a sudden yearning for some ramen,” said Miharu before slurping up more of her soup.

The two of them paused and tilted their heads slightly, smiling innocently. “Where did you two go?” they asked in unison.

Blair bit into her burger, spilling some of the BBQ sauce onto her plate. Since the containers and bag didn’t have any Firebirds branding on them, the twins couldn’t have known where they went. She swallowed her bit of food and wiped her mouth. “We went to Firebirds and Roxy was considerate enough to cover the bill,” she said, turning to Roxanne with a smile.

“Aw, the two love birds had a little date together,” said Shizune, setting down her chopsticks. “So listen, if you two decide to have a little… ‘fun’ later, keep it down, okay?”

Miharu followed suit, finishing her meal shortly after. “Which reminds me. If you two do decide to stay up, don’t stay up too late,” she said, standing up with her bowl in hand.

“Hmm? Why not?” asked Roxanne.

Shizune followed Miharu into the kitchen, dropping off her bowl in the sink. “Coach and Sarah want us back at the track tomorrow at zero seven hundred hours,” said Shizune.

Blair groaned with such loathing, having just gone through a rigorous training session that day. “Urgh, again? It’s the weekend. What for?” she asked.

Shizune shrugged, helping her sister clean the dishes. “She didn’t say, though she did say we don’t need our racing gear for tomorrow,” she said.

“Is that so? Well I wonder what they have in store for us then,” said Roxanne.

After dinner, everyone unwound after a tiring morning then got cleaned up, relaxing a bit before bed. Shizune and Miharu were out in the living room watching TV while Blair and Roxanne retired early to their bedroom.

Dressed in her pajamas, consisting of pink sports short-shorts and a black sports bra, Blair fell back on the bed and spread her arms and legs out, sighing as she closed her eyes. “Oh yeah~ Our bed is so soft and comfy…,” she said.

Roxanne smiled as she slipped on a tan Air Force T-shirt, also wearing a pair of red flannel pajama pants and white ankle socks. “I would imagine so, being all sore from this morning,” she said, moving over to the bed with her. She carefully crawled onto it, lying next to Blair and wrapping her arms around her.

Feeling the warmth of her lover against her body, Blair took off her glasses and placed them on the bedside table. She then turned to face Roxanne and cuddled up close to her, nuzzling her head against hers. Blair was a bit higher up on the bed as she rested her chin on the top of Roxanne’s head, caressing it against her breast. “I still can’t believe we’re in the IG-1 now…,” said Blair.

“What’s so hard to believe? We’ve worked hard to earn that spot,” said Roxanne, the side of her head still pressed against her lover’s modest breast. She held Blair close, inhaling her scent as she turned more towards her. She then began kissing her chest before moving down towards her exposed midsection and belly.

Biting her lip as a promiscuous smile appeared on her face, Blair rolled on her back as Roxanne continued to smooch her tummy. Roxanne continued to move lower and lower, placing a loving kiss every inch or two on her soft, warm abdomen. When she arrived at her waist, she looked up and gave Blair a devious look as she placed her hands on the sides of Blair’s shorts. Blair returned the look with an impatient nod, biting her lip in anticipation as well. After getting the go-ahead from her lover, Roxanne tugged at the article of clothing and removed it, revealing a pair of black, silk panties as she tossed the shorts to the floor. She smiled at the sight of her half naked girlfriend and took off her own pants, straddling Blair with only her T-shirt and black thong on.

“Oh, darling, make love to me. Please…,” said Roxanne, whispering into Blair’s ear as she laid on top of her. She closed her eyes and savored the feeling of her girlfriend below her, feeling her breathing softly.

Blair wrapped her arms around Roxanne, rubbing her back as she gently exhaled along her neck. “You’re such a horny little bugger, aren’t ya?” she said before kissing her neck and nibbling on her ear. She then continued to whisper, “You’re so damn sexy when you’re horny…” Needing to satisfy her partner’s needs, Blair moved face-to-face with her and locked lips in a kiss, letting her tongue explore the inner recesses of Roxanne’s mouth. Roxanne closed her eyes as she kissed Blair back, spending the rest of the night in her lover’s embrace.


	4. The Big Leagues

Blair finally awoke to the blaring beeping of her alarm clock with a groan, reaching out with her arm and slapping her hand on the device to shut it up. As the room fell silent again, she sighed and rolled on her back, staring at the ceiling as she put her hands behind her head. The bed sheets caressed the contours of her naked body, lying softly as she breathed below them. The covers rested on her body just below her breasts, leaving everything above exposed to the morning air. Her red hair was rustled and messy, no longer in the usual ponytail. She didn’t bother to retrieve her glasses or turn on the lights. Instead, she turned her head to the person beside her, still sleeping soundly. Roxanne was fully nude as well, cuddled up underneath the sheets to keep warm.

When Blair first woke up, Roxanne had her back to her, but after hearing the alarm clock, she stirred and rolled on her other side, facing her. Blair smiled at the sight of Roxanne’s exposed upper body, gazing upon her girlfriend’s gorgeous chest. Roxanne’s breasts were much larger than Blair’s, but it didn’t bother her one bit. Hers were a delightful B-Cup, just below a C-Cup, while Blair’s breasts were just about over an A-Cup. As much as Blair didn’t want to disturb the tranquil sight of her love sleeping beside her, they had somewhere to be. She scooted closer to the bare woman, feeling the warmth radiating from her body against her skin.

Blair leaned down and whispered into her ear. “Time to wake up, Love,” she said.

Roxanne stirred a bit but just grumbled, remaining bundled up underneath the sheets.

Blair frowned but remained persistent. She moved closer, climbing on top of her as she continued to whisper into her ear. “Roxy… it’s time to get out of bed. Don’t make me-,” she said with a giggle, placing a hand on Roxanne’s belly underneath the sheets. “Tickle you…”

Somewhat conscious, Roxanne was able to hear Blair’s threat but still not awake enough to fully comprehend it. Not really caring, she gave a grunt and took her chances by remaining still.

Having given Roxanne her last opportunity to get up, Blair decided it was time to get physical. “Okay. I warned ya…,” she said, sitting upright beside her. She smirked and pulled off the covers in one swift motion. As soon as she did, Roxanne curled up in a ball, shivering a bit as her body was left exposed to the morning air. Blair snickered as she pushed her on her back and straddled her, looming over her lover with devious intentions.

As Roxanne lay there, still unresponsive, Blair began her attack. She struck first at Roxanne’s vulnerable belly, using both hands to tickle her awake. She danced her army of fingers delicately all over her belly, hitting her sides as well. As soon as it began, Roxanne bit her lip as her toes curled up, suppressing the urge to laugh. She gripped the bed as her heart rate shot up, her body twitching every now and then. Blair noticed it but didn’t let up. Instead, she started creeping up higher. By then, Roxanne was fully awake with her eyes still closed, struggling hard to resist laughing out loud. To hurry things along, Blair decided to go for the kill and hit home, tickling under her arms.

Unable to contain herself, Roxanne burst out laughing as she raised her arms up to stop the tickling. “Okay. Okay! I’m awake! Please- Please stop!” she said.

Blair ceased the assault, looking smug as she leaned back a bit while still on top of Roxanne. She raised an eyebrow and placed her hands on hips. “Awake now?” she asked.

Roxanne caught her breath as she smiled, looking up at Blair. She gave a nod, laying her hands on Blair’s thighs and giving them a gentle rub. “Yeah…,” she said.

“Good. Now let’s get ready. Time’s a wastin’,” said Blair as she leaned in, giving Roxanne a good morning kiss.

The two of them got out of bed and headed into their bathroom, washing up and getting dressed. When they first bought the apartment, Roxanne and Blair took the master bedroom to themselves, complete with a spacious walk-in closet and master bathroom. Miharu and Shizune took the smaller bedroom which still had its own bathroom but a smaller closet.

Upon exiting the bedroom, Blair continued buttoning up her blouse while Roxanne finished up in the bathroom. She looked to the kitchen and saw Miharu sitting at the counter, drinking coffee by herself with a gloomy demeanor.

“Did you make enough for the rest of us?” asked Blair as she came around into the kitchen.

Miharu just frowned at her, a sullen look in her eyes. She took a sip of her coffee and grumbled something that Blair couldn’t make out. Seeing the coffee pot still full, Blair proceeded to fix herself and Roxanne a cup as well. She put a generous amount of sugar and Irish Crème-flavored creamer into her mug, filling it three-fourths of the way up with coffee. She then went to the fridge and filled the rest of the mug with milk, using a spoon to mix it all together. Once hers was done, she got Roxanne’s cup of coffee ready, adding only a tad bit of sugar and crème, but using half milk and half coffee for her.

Blair took the two mugs and sat next to Miharu, waiting for Roxanne and Shizune to join them. “How’d you sleep last night? I’m surprised you and your sister didn’t just collapse in your rooms after dinner,” she said, sampling her coffee with satisfaction.

After sipping her coffee as well, Miharu let out a tired sigh. “I slept well. I was just looking forward to sleeping in today, that’s all,” she said before yawning.

“I hear ya, but whatever Coach and the Colonel have in store for us, I’m sure it’s worth it,” said Blair, setting her mug down.

Miharu swished her coffee around in her cup then turned to Blair. “How about you? Based on your cheery disposition this early on a weekend, I’d have to say… you got laid?” she said.

Blair smirked, glancing down at her drink. “Yeah… and it was quite nice too,” she said.

Rolling her eyes, Miharu just shrugged and turned back to her own mug. “At least you two weren’t THAT loud. We could hear you both when we were still watching TV, but once we turned in for the night, it wasn’t as annoying. I’m surprised you had enough energy left to do it. I was too tuckered out to even do my evening workout regimen,” she said.

Blair blushed slightly at the fact that they were heard outside their bedroom, but the news wasn’t new; they had been noisy before, perhaps even louder, so at least Miharu wasn’t pissed off about it as usual. “Sorry about that. We were just really in the mood,” she said.

“Uh huh,” said Miharu before taking a long gulp of her coffee. “It’s cool. No harm done.”

While they chatted, Roxanne and Shizune finally joined them by the kitchen. Roxanne gave Blair a hug from behind while Shizune and her sister exchanged sleepy expressions.

“Oh, you made me coffee. How sweet,” said Roxanne as she stood by Blair, taking a sip of her drink.

“Actually, Miharu made the coffee. I just got your cup ready,” said Blair.

“Well, thanks anyway. And you too, Miharu,” said Roxanne.

Miharu mumbled a reply while Shizune went to get herself some coffee, finishing off the rest in the pot. “Any news from the higher ups?” asked Shizune, mixing her mug’s contents with a spoon.

Blair shook her head. “Nothing. No emails or texts. Whatever they have planned, I guess they want it to be a surprise,” she said.

Everyone sighed and sat around for a few more minutes, finishing off their morning caffeine boost. After getting their jackets and shoes on, they headed down below to the parking garage. Miharu and Shizune took their own car while the other two decided to take Roxanne’s car. It was a more modest vehicle compared to Blair’s lavish Dodge Viper. Roxanne drove a custom black BMW 750Li sedan complete with a V-12 engine. It came with state-of-the-art electronics and other personalization options for both the interior and exterior. Roxanne got into the driver’s seat while Blair got buckled in on the passenger side. After leaving her parking space, Roxanne led the way out of the garage followed by the twins in their purple Nissan Skyline, both cars heading towards the IGPX practice track where Lucia and Sarah were waiting. When they arrived, they quickly parked their cars and headed into the complex. Inside, they were greeted by Sarah once they were in Team Balisong’s hangar.

Blair yawned and waved to her. “Mornin’, Colonel. So why’d you two drag us here on this fine Saturday morning?” she asked, placing her hands on her hips with a quizzical look.

Sarah smiled and looked the team over, expecting them to be late and in a far worse condition. Fortunately for her, the team was early and looking ready to go, though, some more so than others. “Come and see for yourself. Lucia is waiting in the spectator’s stands,” she said, turning to take the team there.

Blair and Roxanne exchanged confused looks and followed after her, as did the others. The five of them walked through the complex, not seeing many others around. It was the weekend and still early in the morning, though not as early as the day before, so the track remained rather vacant. After a brisk walk, they made it to the outdoor seating area that overlooked the starting portion of the track. Blair shivered as they found themselves back outside, rubbing her arms to keep warm. Roxanne looked over at her and smiled, placing an arm around her to share body heat. In the middle of the section, Lucia sat waiting along with Maggie, who was dosing off in the row of seats behind her.

Sarah and the pilots approached and sat down beside her. “Here they are, ma’am,” she said, taking a seat next to Maggie. She nudged her awake and gave her a slight smile as Maggie twitched in her spot.

Blair and the pilots kept their attention on Lucia, wondering what was going on. “So what’s up, Coach?” she asked.

Lucia sat tranquilly in her wheelchair, a heavy blanket covering her legs as she kept her hands nestled on top of her lap. Her gaze was fixated on the starting grid as she began to address the team. “Good morning. You’re just in time,” she said.

“Just in time? In time for what?” asked Miharu before yawning loudly.

“Well, see for yourself,” said Lucia, gesturing to the track with a slight nod of her head. They all turned to where she was looking and saw three familiar bots poised on the starting grid. The ground crew there was making adjustments using various sensors and equipment. “Velshtein is about to do another lap,” she said with a hint of expectation in her voice.

Blair squinted to better see the bots, but as soon as Lucia said what team they were, her eyes widened with surprise. “Wait. Velshtein? As in… the IG-1 Team Velshtein?” she asked.

Lucia nodded. “Indeed. While I was still a pilot, I happened to run into them a lot and kept track of their usual practice hours. I’m still surprised that Humbug is still making them practice on the weekends like this,” she said, crossing her arms.

“…who?” asked Roxanne.

Lucia chuckled to herself. “Sir Hamgra. I like to call him Humbug because… you know. He’s grumpy,” she said.

Blair and the others chuckled as well. “It makes sense, I guess. He doesn’t want other teams snooping in on them during their practice, and hardly anyone ever shows up this early, especially on a weekend,” she said. “But why did you drag us out here just to see them? I’ve seen them race tons of times, a few of them in person too.”

Lucia chuckled again, turning her attention towards the amateur IG-1 pilot. “Well, Blair, if you had the opportunity to learn all that you could about your opponent, wouldn’t you take it?” she asked. Blair remained silent, glancing away as she held her tongue. Blair’s silence was all the affirmation Lucia needed as she looked back towards the starting grid. “You may have seen them race, but how they practice is a totally different story. For instance, take note of how they take to the starting grid. Notice their posture and position, poised and ready to dash off. Once they start, I want you all to keep watch of how they move, how they react. I’ll be conducting drills similar to theirs, so this is a preview of what is to come,” she said.

Blair and the others got comfortable and prepared to watch Team Velshtein practice. For the next hour or so, Team Balisong sat in the stands, observing their rivals in the IG-1. During the practice, Lucia gave an in-depth commentary about Team Velshtein, telling them everything she knew about the team and shedding light on some topics that they weren’t even aware of.

As she watched the bots down below, Blair grew more eager to race and wanted to get on the track to show them what she was made of. Her knee bobbed up and down in an impatient rhythm, her enthusiasm growing with each passing moment. “Man, just look at them go. I bet I can shadow them and keep up no problem,” she said to Roxanne.

Roxanne looked to Blair with a smile, placing a hand on her twitchy leg. “I’m sure you could, Hon. But let’s not show off anything until we race them for real, okay? We don’t want to reveal anything and give them an edge over us,” she said.

Blair looked to Roxanne then back to the track with a pout, resting her head on her hands with her shoulders on her knees. “Yeah… I guess so,” she said.

After the practice was over, Lucia dismissed the team and gave them the rest of the weekend off. She and Sarah stayed behind to take care of some last minute things while the pilots headed back towards the garage. Along the way, Blair and the others stumbled upon the Team Velshtein pilots, but it was Cunningham who initiated the encounter.

Seeing Blair and her teammates walking passed their hangar, Cunningham jumped down from his mech and hurried over. “Hey, Blair, do you have a minute?” he asked out loud.

Hearing her name being called out, Blair stopped and turned to see Cunningham jogging over to them. “Cunningham? What do you want?” she asked, standing before him with her team at her back.

Cunningham smiled in his usual manner, off putting any tension that might have lingered between the two teams. “All I ask is a few moments of your time to chat with a fellow IGPX pilot, that’s all. You know, captain to captain,” he said. He stood there confidently, giving off a certain air of prestige, and the team could feel it too. He looked to the others and cleared his throat. “…alone, preferably.”

Blair remained firm as she tried not to look nervous before the seasoned IG-1 pilot. She turned to the others and motioned for them to continue on without her. “It’s all right, guys. I’ll catch up with you later,” she said.

“I’ll bring the car around and wait for you there,” said Roxanne before leaving with Miharu and Shizune.

Blair gave her a smile as she left then turned back to Cunningham. “All right. Shoot. What’s on your mind?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest as she shifted her weight to one leg.

Cunningham shrugged, placing a hand on his hip and his other outstretched for a handshake. “Nothing really. Just wanted to say hello to my new colleague and rival,” he said.

Blair raised an eyebrow, still remaining somewhat defensive as she shook his hand. “Is that so? Well hello then,” she said.

Cunningham returned the shake in kind, firmly grasping her hand as he kept eye contact. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, a former Air Force captain and a fighter-pilot at that. You must have a load of stories to tell from your flyin’ days, huh?” he said.

“Yeah… though I’m sure you’re not here to talk about that now, are ya?” asked Blair, her tone a bit straightforward.

Cunningham looked at her and gave a slight nod. “Straight to the point I see. Well, the real reason I wanted to talk to you is to tell you this…,” he said as his demeanor changed, becoming more rigid and eyeing her with a serious expression. “Know your place.”

Blair sneered at him, not sure if she heard him correctly. “What? Excuse me?” she asked, leaning forward towards him, her voice harsh.

“You heard me. The only reason you got into the IG-1 is because another team flunked out on a technicality. If you want to be considered a fellow IG-1 pilot, you’re going to have to earn your place amongst us,” said Cunningham.

Not believing what she was hearing, Blair shook her head, scoffing as a haughty smile appeared on her face. “Well excuse me, Mr. Wannabe! I didn’t know I was standing in front of the epitome of IGPX racing, you friggin’ hypocrite!” she said.

Cunningham raised his brow, surprised at her accusations. “And what’s that supposed to mean?” he asked.

Blair wiped the proverbial tear away from her eye as she calmed herself down. “Don’t give me that crap. We all see how Sir Hamgra and your team conduct yourselves, acting all high and mighty with your faux military shtick. I bet you wouldn’t even last a day in the field, in the real life of a grunt. Your futile attempts at standing at attention, giving a ‘yes, sir!’. It’s infuriating! How mere privileged civis like yourselves think you’re fit to embrace the most sacred traditions of the armed services…” She was at a loss of words as she shook her head, collecting herself and getting her emotions under control. “Now tell me who’s pretending and who’s not.”

Cunningham stood there before her, unsure of how to respond. His perky demeanor was suppressed by her words and he remained silent for a bit, brooding over his thoughts. Finally, he stirred and looked her in the eye, an unyielding expression on his face. “I think you should leave,” he said.

Blair continued to smile, almost mockingly. “Is that so? What? Did I strike a nerve there, Fancy-Pants?” she asked as she remained standing there in front of him, still contemptuous with every word and gesture.

Cunningham continued to glare, pointing towards the exit while maintaining eye contact with her. She narrowed her eyes at him and got the message, turning to head for the exit. After taking a few steps with her back to him, he spoke. “You may be renowned in the military world, Captain, but here, in the IGPX, _I_ am king. Don’t forget that,” he said.

Blair stopped momentarily to listen then continued on, not looking back; she had neither the patience nor the drive to continue the conversation. She sneered at his statement as she left Team Velshtein’s hangar, making her way back to the garage where Roxanne was waiting for her. When she arrived, Roxanne was listening to her music while parked in front; by the sound of the song, it was probably another one of her classical tracks Blair thought. She exhaled loudly, trying to forget what just happened as she got into the passenger seat of the vehicle.

Seeing Blair get in the car, Roxanne gave her a warm smile and turned down the volume. “So, what did Cunningham want?” she asked, switching into drive and taking the car out of the garage.

“Oh just the usual. Gloating about how his shit don’t stink and such,” said Blair after sighing again, glancing out the passenger door’s window.

Roxanne could feel the tension in her voice as she continued to drive. “Huh. Is that so? Did something… happen? You don’t look like you had a fun time talking with him,” she said while keeping her attention on the road.

“Like I said, it was just him being his usual self. Who would be happy after talking to a guy like that?” asked Blair.

Sensing that Blair just wanted to be left alone, Roxanne gave a nod and continued driving. “Okay then,” she said.

As she sat in the passenger seat, Blair rested her head on her arm, staring cheerlessly out the window as her thoughts turned to the glory days of her military career.


	5. Omega Squadron

_Four years ago…in the year 2047…_

_Alert! All combat crews, to your stations! Omega Squadron, you are clear for immediate takeoff on Runway One. Knight Squadron, remain on standby for coastal patrol!”_

Blair was in the bathroom flossing her teeth when the air-raid siren suddenly started blaring. “The hell?” she asked, not sure what was going on.

As soon as she heard the siren, Roxanne came bursting in, already geared up to fly. “Enemy fighters closing in! C’mon, let’s go!” she said, motioning for Blair to hurry up.

The United States and its allies were currently engaged in battle against communist, Chinese forces. Its involvement began after communist China began invading its neighbors, seeking additional assets and territory to control in the fight against its internal enemies. China was in the middle of a civil war between those hoping for a democracy and those wanting to remain a communist state. The U.S. began Operation: CRIMSON FLAG in an attempt to aid its democratic allies in China and to rid the country of communism for good. It was the eighth month of the operation and the communist forces were running dry, especially after losing Russian support early on. After the agreement amongst the world leaders to ban nuclear weapons years before, the Chinese communist regime had to rely on traditional means of warfare to carry out its goals. Blair and Roxanne were part of the U.S.A.F.’s 82nd Fighter Wing stationed at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa.

Blair ditched the floss and turned around, almost slipping on the wet floor. In addition to her t-shirt and boots, the top part of her flightsuit was wrapped around her waist like a jacket. “Fighters? From where?” she asked, hurrying out of the bathroom with Roxanne as she properly put on her flightsuit.

“An aircraft carrier somehow slipped by the blockade and launched a wave of fighters headed for Japan. The planes of 5th Fleet are scrambling to intercept the carrier, but we’re the closest unit to those bogies,” said Roxanne as she helped gather Blair’s gear.

After zipping up her flightsuit and checking her boots, Blair grabbed her helmet and gloves from Roxanne, hurrying out of the building with her. Outside, other pilots from her squadron were hurrying to get ready as they ran for their aircraft. As she put on her helmet and adjusted the air hose and chest rig, she saw her superior and squadron leader barking orders to her squadron-mates. Blair gave her a nod from the distance and hurried to her plane, as did Roxanne.

“She’s ready to go, ma’am!” said one of the crew chiefs before helping out the rest of the crew in-charge of her plane conduct pre-flight checks.

Blair gave him a nod and hopped into the cockpit, starting up her own pre-flight procedures. Looking over to her right, she saw Roxanne doing the same, exchanging brief glances as she smiled. Once she was ready to go, Blair closed the canopy and started up the plane. “Control, this is Omega-7, taxiing to Runway One,” she said. Her engines roared to life as she began rolling along the tarmac to the runway with her flightmates. Roxanne was in her aircraft as well, moving right behind her. The F-22 Raptors of Omega Squadron moved along in a line, positioning themselves at the start of the runway for takeoff.

At the lead of the line was the squadron leader, Lt. Col. Sarah Davis. “Control, this is Omega-1, heading out,” she said, preparing herself with a calm exhale. Once in position, she put on the afterburners and barreled down the runway, lifting off after gaining enough speed.

Before Sarah had even left the tarmac, the plane behind her followed suit once there was enough space. One by one, the fighters of Omega Squadron took to the sky and within ten minutes of getting the warning, the entire squadron was in the air and in formation, heading straight towards the enemy.

As Blair flew at the lead of Bravo Flight, the recently promoted captain sat in her cockpit with a nervous, yet excited shake in her legs. “This is so exciting! Listen to the engines hum. My first combat sortie ever!” she said.

“Don’t get cocky out there, Omega-7.” Sarah’s voice was heard over the squadron radio channel, ringing in Blair’s helmet. “Keep a level head and remember your training. These aren’t your amateur, fresh-out-of-training pilots they’ve been fighting on the frontlines. These are Navy pilots. They wouldn’t send newbies this far out to strike behind enemy lines like this,” she said.

Blair cleared her throat as she looked to the head of the formation, seeing Sarah’s plane at the very tip of the spear. “Uh, roger that, ma’am. I’m just eager is all,” she said.

“Aren’t we all. But as the last line of defense for the Japanese mainland, we can’t afford to fail,” said Sarah.

“Don’t worry, Brass. We got your back… _I_ got your back,” said Roxanne who was also recently promoted to the rank of captain.

Blair smiled, giving a nod. “Right. I’m sure we’ll all be fine,” she said.

As her radar began beeping, Sarah switched herself into combat mode. “All right, lock it up and cut the chatter! Contacts dead ahead! Bravo Flight, handle the right flank. Alpha Flight, you’re with me on the left. Prepare to engage,” she said. She flipped a few switches and readied herself to fire at targets beyond-visual-range or BVR, a feat the F-22 excelled at.

“Roger that, ma’am. Bravo, on me! Everyone lock-on to a bandit,” said Blair as she prepared herself for the engagement. She armed her munitions as the internal missile bay opened up, revealing an array of missiles and other ordinance.

“Target locked. AMRAAMs armed and ready,” said Roxanne as she rested her thumb on the top of the flightstick.

As the squadron each tallied an enemy fighter, Sarah fired the first missile. “Omega-1, Fox three! Omega Squadron, engage!” she said, watching one of her AMRAAMs streak off into the distance, leaving behind a white contrail. Soon after hers was fired, several others followed in its path, leaving a wall of white as the missiles flew off towards the enemy.

Blair watched her radar, seeing her missile on the screen and anxiously waiting for a kill confirmation. As the distance closed, her excitement grew. It grew and grew until a dull tone signifying a miss was heard, dampening her spirits. She let out a loud groan as the word “MISS” flashed on her screen. She got on the radio and hailed Roxanne. “Did your missile hit anything? Mine missed,” she said.

“That’s a negative. I got nothing but air too,” said Roxanne.

“I told you these are experienced pilots. Cut the chit-chat and ready yourselves. I can see them coming,” said Sarah.

Feeling her heart jump, Blair looked out ahead, seeing black specks in the distance. Suddenly, her cockpit began beeping and flashing red. “WHA? They’ve got me locked on!” she said. The beeping and flashing then became a steady tone and a solid indicator light, signaling that she was being fired at.

“Omega Squadron, evasive maneuvers! Break off and engage!” said Sarah as she banked left, also having a missile locked on to her.

Blair jerked on the stick and rolled her plane, ordering her flight to take them head on. Roxanne stayed on her tail, following her every movement as a good wingman was supposed to do. The enemy missiles zoomed by Blair and the others, continuing harmlessly into the distance. At that point, Blair could clearly see the enemy planes closing in on them. The enemy formation was composed of the standard Chinese naval air-superiority fighter, the J-31C. It used stealth technology akin to the F-22 and some experts believed that the technology was stolen from the U.S. F-117 downed in Siberia, or retrieved from hacked F-22 and F-35 project files. Regardless of where it came from, however, the J-31 had stealth capability, making it a formidable aircraft if used by the right pilot. Blair and the others of Omega Squadron were up against a seasoned unit, probably using special variations of the J-31 to boost their chances of success.

Blair spotted a lone enemy and rolled her plane to pursue. “Jack, I’ve got eyes on a bogey! Moving to pursue. Cover my ass!” she said, excited to get her first kill.

“Roger that, Brass! I got yer six!” said Roxanne as she kept up, protecting Blair’s tail from any pesky follower that might latch on.

Seeing her enemy in front of her, Blair did her best to stay on his tail and keep her crosshairs on him. All around her, missiles were being fired and guns were blazing as her squadronmates and the enemy danced an intricate aerial display. The chaos made it difficult to keep tabs on her flightmates as she tried to take down the enemy before her. In order to get the kill, she pushed out all other distractions and forced herself to focus solely on the enemy plane. Her opponent was a tricky one, banking and turning every which way to lose Blair, but she matched his every move, though not being able to get a full missile lock.

“Man, this guy’s pretty good…,” said Blair as she continued to dog her foe, her trigger-finger getting itchier by the second. The weapon system’s tone flickered on and off as her reticule passed over her target time and time again, unable to keep it steady long enough for her weapons to lock on. She was about to lose him until her cockpit finally filled with the steady sound of a lock. “Eat this, sucka!” she said, releasing an AIM-9X Sidewinder with the click of a button. Due to her excitement, she nearly missed the button as she fumbled around with the joystick.

Once it was released from the side weapons bay, the missile darted out ahead of her towards the enemy. Sensing the missile coming for him, the enemy pilot immediately deployed countermeasures to avoid getting shot down. He launched flares which confused the heat-seeking warhead of the missile, causing it to veer off to the side and miss him completely.

Seeing her second missile of the engagement miss, she cursed out loud as her prey gave her the slip. “Urgh! He got away!” said Blair as she frantically looked all around her cockpit for him.

“Don’t worry, Brass. They’re plenty of other fish in the sea,” said Roxanne, also keeping an eye out for the enemy.

“Yeah, if the others don’t kill them first,” said Blair with a huff, disgruntled at the missed opportunity.

Meanwhile, Sarah and her flight were fighting hard as she bagged one bandit already. Suddenly, two glints in the distance caught her eye as they zoomed by the battle, bypassing the buzzing swarm of planes. They were moving at high-speeds and she barely had a few moments to catch them before they were gone.

Just as they left her sight, Sarah’s helmet’s radio came to life. “Omega-1, come in! We’ve got a situation,” said one of the operators back at base.

“Go for one,” said Sarah as she maneuvered onto the tail of another enemy.

“We’ve detected two fast-movers heading east directly towards the Japanese mainland. Readings indicate two T-77 Falchions based on their current speed. Possible ramjets. Heavy ordinance is estimated to be onboard, likely HEWA. Knight Squadron is currently engaged with a larger force and is not able to intercept,” said the operator.

“T-77s… Those are Russia’s latest sixth-generation fighter jets, aren’t they? They’re not supposed to be operational yet!” said Sarah. She quickly analyzed the situation and gave a prompt response. “Roger that. Saw them pass just now. We’ll take care of it.” She switched channels and got in touch with the only two in her flight that could catch up to those planes. “Brass, come in.”

Blair jerked in her seat, startled by Sarah’s sudden voice. “Brass, here. Go ahead,” she said.

“We’ve got two T-77 Falchions heading east at high speeds towards the coast. They’ve got ramjets and we’re the only ones who can catch them, and by we, I mean you two. Break off and intercept,” said Sarah.

“Two of them? Why only two?” asked Blair, quickly changing their bearing to intercept the two enemy fighters.

Blair and Roxanne leveled off their jets and engaged their afterburners, gradually transitioning to speeds over Mach 3. They were flying the F-22S Raptor, the S standing for Special officially, or Speed unofficially. Whereas the new Russian T-77 used ramjet technology, maxing out at speeds around Mach 5.5-6, the F-22S utilized the latest in advanced scramjet technology, capable of speeds maxing out at over Mach 7-8; they were still in the testing phase and were being field-tested with Blair’s unit.

“Intel suspects that these two planes are carrying HEWA ordinance. With their current heading, their target seems to be Tokyo,” said Sarah.

“HEWA… You mean High-Explosive Wide-Area bombs? They’re going to level the place!” said Roxanne.

“Affirmative. If you two don’t shoot down those birds in time, Tokyo will be wiped off the face of the Earth. That we cannot allow,” said Sarah.

Blair let the situation soak in then snapped back to reality. “We won’t let you down. Consider them splashed,” she said before terminating the channel. She exhaled and focused on the vital task at hand, one that had grave consequences should she fail. Her first combat sortie out and already she was the sole determining factor of whether millions lived or died.

Roxanne stayed in formation behind Blair, keeping an eye on her plane’s readings. “You okay, Brass?” she asked out of the blue.

Hearing her soothing voice, Blair couldn’t help but smile, finally loosening up in the few moments they had before they caught up to their target. “Yeah. I’m fine. Just… a lot on my plate is all,” she said.

“Our plate, Brass,” said Roxanne.

“Huh?” asked Blair.

“Our plate. I’m in this too, you know. And with me by your side, we won’t fail. I promise,” said Roxanne.

Blair chuckled and sighed with relief, comforted by her words. “Okay, Jack. I believe you,” she said.

“So do you think these Falchions are being piloted by Russians?” asked Roxanne, curious about the two mystery planes.

“Not likely. The Chinese probably got their hands on these things while the Russians were still providing military assistance. Now that they’ve backed out, it’s most likely some Chinese hot shots in the cockpit,” said Blair.

As Blair and Roxanne continued on at supersonic speeds, the two enemy fighters appeared on radar and not before long, visual sight as well. The enemy pilots picked up Blair and Roxanne on their sensors as well, and since the Raptors were faster than their own planes, they broke out of supersonic speed to engage them directly lest they be destroyed before deploying their ordinance. While the T-77s were at speeds around Mach 3.5 on max afterburn, Blair’s F-22S was nowhere near its limit as she and Roxanne caught up with ease. When the T-77s slowed down, they split up, heading in opposite directions as they banked away.

“I got this one, you take the other,” said Blair as she veered off to follow one of the bandits,

“Roger that. Good luck,” said Roxanne, following suit as she took the other plane in the pair.

As soon as Blair got onto her target’s tail, the bandit immediately began to jerk and turn his plane in an attempt to lose her. The tricks and maneuvers the pilot did amazed Blair as she had never seen some of them before, but even though they were advanced dog-fighting techniques, she managed to keep on his six. The constant changes in G’s she experienced pushed her body to the limit but she was well accustomed to the stresses on her body already. Even though the tight turns and drastic changes in speed and direction made it impossible to use her missiles, it didn’t discourage her; however, this meant she had to use her guns to take down her foe, a feat she yearned to do. Also, the fact that it was going to be her first kill made it even more special.

“You’re gonna get it now.” said Blair as she kept her finger on the flightstick’s trigger, ready to light up the enemy T-77. Once her crosshairs were in the right spot, she let off a short burst to let her gauge the amount of lead she needed. Her aircraft’s M61A2 Vulcan 20mm cannon roared to life as a small streak of bullets shot out in front of her. Her shots missed, but barely as the enemy suddenly turned in the opposite direction. Her plane automatically took into account all the different factors for the gun’s sights and adjusted the reticule as needed, calculating the lead for her. All Blair had to do was put the crosshair on the target and fire.

The enemy pilot was quick and agile, even with a full payload of bombs. In order to keep the plane light enough to fly, and if need be, dog-fight, the guidance systems had to be stripped out of the ordinance as well as other components, like the stabilizer fins. The two T-77s had to be directly over the city when they dropped their load, then high-tail it out of there before they got caught in the explosion. Only well-tenured and experienced pilots could pull it off, so Blair had her hands full when trying to down her current opponent.

It had only been a few minutes since Blair and Roxanne engaged the T-77s, but to them, it seemed like hours. As time dragged on, Blair grew more impatient and frustrated as her target continued to elude her. “Just hurry up and die!” she said, pulling hard on her stick as the T-77 began to climb. This was the mistake Blair had been waiting for. Unbeknownst to the Chinese pilot flying the T-77, the F-22S had a superior climbing rate when compared to his plane; the standard F-22 would have lost the climbing battle, but Blair wasn’t flying a standard F-22. Blair kept pulling on the stick, her gun’s reticule inching towards her target. “Almost there…” she said to herself, straining to keep the plane steady as they began losing airspeed. Her heart rate increased with anticipation as the edge of the reticule touched the rear fins of the T-77.

As soon as the center of her crosshairs passed over the center of the plane, she pulled hard on the trigger with such vigor and fired her aircraft’s gun. Cannon rounds streaked through the air and impacted the enemy aircraft. Blair watched with glee thanks to the tracer rounds as her fire hit home. The back of the T-77 erupted in flames as debris began flying off from the plane. Smoke bellowed from the engines as Blair kept the trigger depressed, moving her shots up the back of the plane, eventually passing over the cockpit. Her eyes widened with excitement and a large grin grew on her face, reaching ear-to-ear. She couldn’t help but let out a small cheer of celebration as the plane exploded above her, raining down debris and flaming parts.

Blair’s satisfaction was short lived as soon as she came out of the climb. Tracer rounds the size of golf balls flew right over her canopy as the other T-77 got on her tail. She ducked her head as a reflex, cursing as she glanced behind her to get a good look at the plane. She was about to give him the slip until the T-77 exploded behind her, plummeting back down to the ground.

Through the smoke, Roxanne came up behind Blair, taking her place at her six. “I told you I had your back,” she said.

Blair let out a sigh of relief as she leveled out her plane. “Thanks for that, Jack. He almost had me,” she said.

“Not a problem, Hon. Finally got my first kill,” said Roxanne as she tried to catch her breath, just as tense and excited as Blair was.

“Me too. It feels… great. I actually took him down with my guns. Never thought I’d be able to do that and especially for my first kill,” said Blair after regaining her composure. The fight caused her to start sweating and all the twisting and turning had gotten her heart rate up.

“Hey, Brass,” said Roxanne over the radio, her voice a lot more calm.

“Yeah?” asked Blair.

“You did great out there,” said Roxanne.

Blair smiled, her wingman’s voice giving her poise. “You too,” she said.

As they flew along, patrolling the area to make sure no other enemy planes were lurking around, Sarah’s voice was heard in Blair’s helmet. “Status on those bandits, Brass,” she said.

“They be swimmin’ with the fishes,” said Blair with an air of satisfaction. “Scored one kill while Jack got the other.”

“That’s good to hear. We’re finishing up here and the remaining bandits are retreating. Rendezvous with the rest of the squadron then we’ll head back to base,” said Sarah.

“Roger that. Heading back now,” said Blair as she changed her heading back towards Sarah and the others.

The two F-22S Raptors formed up and continued on to the rendezvous point, their first mission successfully accomplished.

#

_“We’re here.”_

Blair snapped out of her daydream and looked to Roxanne. “Whadya say?” she asked.

“Get out. We’re home,” said Roxanne, giving her a smile.

“Oh. All right, let’s have some brunch. I’m starved,” said Blair as she got out of the car. She looked out into the sky, putting her memories aside as she gave it one last look of longing before heading inside with Roxanne.


	6. The Charity Ball

Over the next few weeks, Team Balisong trained hard with their mentor and coach, the former IG-1 pilot Lucia Cloverson, in preparation for their first IG-1 race. It was the middle of their training period when the team received a curious invitation regarding official IGPX business. Blair and the team were back at their apartment after having finished their day’s training regimen. They were becoming less and less sore after their sessions, growing more accustomed to the exercises as they built up their stamina.

After picking the mail up from their mailbox downstairs and heading back up to the apartment, Blair sorted through it and stumbled upon a lavishly embroidered envelope addressed to the team. “Huh. I wonder what this is,” she said, inspecting the envelope.

“What ‘what’ is?” asked Roxanne as she came up to Blair in the kitchen.

“I don’t know. It’s addressed to the team and it says it’s from the IGPX Committee,” said Blair.

“Seems a tad bit too ornate to be from them, don’t ya think?” said Roxanne.

“Yeah, well. You can’t tell until you open it up, right?” said Blair as she opened the envelope with her knife. She took out the card and read it over.

“So what’s it say?” asked Roxanne.

Blair finished reading it and handed it to her. “Seems like we’ve been invited to some charity ball next Friday. Something about it being a pre-race event where all the IG-1 pilots come together to do something and I don’t know. Never had to do this sorta thing in the IG-2,” she said.

After reading the card herself, Roxanne placed it on the table. “I see. Sounds like a very formal event, meaning that we have to look our best. I bet lots of high-profile people and celebrities are going to be there too, and not just from the IGPX world,” she said.

Blair let out an annoyed sigh, leaning against the counter. “Urgh, means I have to dress up, don’t I?” she said.

Roxanne playfully scoffed at her, placing the card back in the envelope. “And what’s wrong with that? You love dressing up,” she said with a smirk.

Blair rolled her eyes and went around the counter back into the living room, taking a seat on a stool. “Yeah, but now I have to pick out an outfit, get it dry cleaned, etc. I wonder who’s going to be at the ball thingie,” she said.

“It’s not like you’re the only one who has to do that. We all have to get our outfits ready,” said Roxanne as she sat beside her. “As for who’s going, probably the usual big shots from the IG-1, like Satomi and Velshtein. Definitely those two. Maybe some other teams like White Snow and Sledgemamma.”

“Mmmhmm. I guess we still have time. We can let Anko know about this when they get back. And I’m sure the Colonel and Coach are going to brief us all about it tomorrow morning,” said Blair.

Roxanne gave a nod before getting up from her seat. “Well, I’m headed out. Want anything while I’m gone?” she asked, grabbing her jacket off the coat rack.

Blair thought for a moment, tapping a finger to her chin as she looked up. “Hmm… how about a box of sugar cookies? I got a sudden craving for those things. And make sure they’re fresh,” she said.

Roxanne chuckled and gave her a smirk. “Whatever. Sure thing, Hon,” she said. She waved goodbye and left the apartment, heading down to the parking garage.

#

“We’re going to be late! What’s up with this stupid traffic!”

It was early in the evening and Blair and Roxanne were on their way to the charity ball, however, they were stuck in traffic en route to the convention center. Fortunately for them, and at the request of Roxanne, the two of them left early to allow them some cushion time in case of such an occurrence. They were dressed in their formal attire, riding in Blair’s Viper with the top down as they tried to make it to the ball on time.

Blair, like her usual self, was wearing a custom tailored black fitted suit complete with a red shirt and skinny black tie. She was wearing matching oxfords as she didn’t like wearing high-heels and the like. Her hair was done up in her usual ponytail and she had her trademark red-rimmed glasses on. She also had a set of black, leather driving gloves to compliment the outfit while she drove. As for Roxanne, she was wearing a black, ankle-length dress with most of her back exposed and thin straps over both shoulders. She had matching high-heels on and a simple gold necklace draped around her neck. Her hair was fixed up in a tight bun. She also sported formal black gloves that went up just passed her elbows.

“Settle down, Blair. That’s why we left early, remember?” said Roxanne as she tried to find an alternate route using the vehicle’s GPS.

Blair scoffed at the cars in front of them, inching slowly along as she revved her engine in annoyance. “Where did all these cars come from anyway? It’s not usually this crowded at this time of day,” she said.

“Maybe they’re all headed to the ball?” said Roxanne.

“Pfft, maybe…,” said Blair as she positioned her elbow on the car door, resting her head on her hand.

They continued along the congested road for a few more minutes before Roxanne found an alternate route. “Ah ha! Got it! Take the next exit; I’ve found another way to get to the convention center,” she said.

“Roger that. Taking next exit,” said Blair as she gripped the wheel.

After taking the new route, the two of them arrived at the convention center fifteen minutes after the doors opened, getting there fashionably late as was Blair’s style. The exterior of the modern-styled convention center was completely illuminated by lights and the sidewalks were filled with paparazzi and fans of the IGPX. As Blair and Roxanne drove by, bystanders didn’t hesitate to take pictures of them left and right, and with the top down, they had easy access to take a quick snapshot of the two celebrities. Being VIPs at the event, Blair followed the other luxurious cars and used the valet line instead of finding a parking spot herself.

As Blair moved in line with the other vehicles, ranging from high-end sportscars to luxury SUVs, news cameras covering the event surrounded them as they took pictures and video feed of them arriving at the charity ball. Blair kept a cool demeanor, occasionally waving with a smug grin at the cameras as she moved along. Roxanne did the same, giving the fans a show as she waved and smiled for the viewers at home. When they arrived at the entrance, there was a valet already waiting for them to park their car. Stepping out of the car, Blair relinquished her vehicle over to him as he got into the driver’s seat. Afterwards, she briskly went around the front of the car and opened the door for Roxanne, taking her hand in hers as they walked together towards the interior of the convention center.

“Wow. There’s quite a lot of uh, camera flashes and such,” said Blair as she continued inside with her girlfriend in tow, wincing once in a while at the extremely bright camera flashes.

“Well this is the IG-1 after all. Everything is larger and grander here,” said Roxanne jokingly upon entering the building.

Once they were inside, they bore witness to the massive crowds of people mingling and socializing in the grand atrium. All around them were rows of tables covered with platters of appetizers and drinks for the guests. Along with the food, there was live classical music playing in the background as VIPs of all walks of life schmoozed about. Blair and Roxanne had attended lavish balls before in the military, but nothing like this. Just by stepping through the door made them gasp with awe and surprise.

“I wonder where the others are. Surely Anko, Sarah, and the rest are here already,” said Blair as she scanned the crowd with her eyes, looking for familiar faces.

“Yeah, but if we don’t find them now, we’ll see them once we’re assembled in the main hall,” said Roxanne as she held on to Blair’s arm as they walked.

Immediately after entering, they started getting passing glances from people as they turned to greet the two pilots. Blair had never felt so important in her life as nearly all eyes in the room turned to her. Even in the military, she had never had this much prestigious attention on her and she absolutely adored it. With her trademark smug smirk, she gestured to the fans that got her attention while waving to others, being her usual playful self as she peered through one of her numerous pairs of slightly gray-tinted, red-framed cosmetic glasses.

Suddenly, Blair felt someone come up from behind and placed an arm around her neck. “Konbanwa! ( _Good evening!_ ) Finally! Sarah and the others have been waiting forever for you two to show up. We’re supposed to get our picture taken together as a team, so let’s go!” said Miharu as she corralled Blair and Roxanne towards the rest of the team.

“Uh, all right. Lead the way,” said Blair as she tried to keep pace with Miharu.

The three of them weaved through the crowds and came upon the photography station. Sarah, Lucia, and Maggie were waiting for them, all dressed in their formal attire. Miharu let go of Blair and joined her sister, standing beside her and behind Sarah. Blair and Roxanne joined the group, exchanging pleasantries with their other teammates.

“About time you two showed up. We’re next for group photos,” said Lucia as she gestured to the make-shift studio.

Blair and Roxanne looked over and saw a fellow IG-1 team, Team Black Egg, getting their picture professionally taken. When it was their turn, Blair and the team took their place in front of the camera, heeding the photographer’s directions as he moved and posed them for the shot. Blair took in a deep breath and put on a cheery, wide smile as the camera flashed, capturing the team’s majesty for all to see. Once the photo shoot was over, the team dispersed as Sarah and Lucia went off to mingle with the big-wigs of the IGPX world. The Anko twins went their own way to sample some of the appetizers while Blair and Roxanne walked around, saying hello to more of the fans that showed up just to meet them specifically.

“See any of the other teams?” asked Roxanne as they entered the sea of visitors.

“Eh, not really. Besides Satomi up there soaking in the limelight for the third year in a row, I don’t see much,” said Blair. Suddenly, she finally spotted a familiar face as her eyes narrowed towards him, though not one she particularly cared to see. “There, that’s someone I know,” she said, gesturing to a man with a nod of her head as she made her way over to him.

“Hmm?” asked Roxanne before looking over and seeing whom she was referring to. After rolling her eyes, she followed Blair over.

Blair stalked her prey with a predatory gaze, covertly maneuvering through the mob of party goers until she was right behind him. Just as she was about to startle him by clapping loudly right behind his head, he spoke.

“Did you really think that would work on me, Captain?” asked Cunningham, looking over his shoulder as his eyes met hers.

Staggered by his awareness of her presence, and disappointed that her attempt at some playful fun was ruined, she withdrew her hands and stuck them in her pockets with a slight pout. “Pfft, always the killjoy, eh Fancypants?” she said.

“Well, you know me, Captain. I’m nothing more than a stuck-up, soldier wannabe, as you so clearly made it the last time we spoke,” said Cunningham as he turned to face her.

Giving a slight nod, Blair returned to her perky self and crossed her arms over her chest. “Couldn’t have said it better myself, Curedham,” she said, poking more fun at the seasoned racer. “So how many celebrities have you shook hands with already?”

Cunningham smiled, rubbing the back of his head. “Not nearly as many as Takeshi and Team Satomi have,” he said, looking up towards the main staircase where Team Satomi was. “But look there. Do you see the man currently shaking hands with Takeshi now?”

Blair huffed and looked to where he was motioning, seeing a well-dressed man in his forties talking to the captain of Team Satomi, Takeshi Jin. As she squinted to get a better view of him, her eyes widened as she finally made out who it was. “That’s- That’s Wes Guldstrand, one of the wealthiest men in the world! What business does he have with a kid like Takeshi?” asked Blair.

“I don’t know, but Takeshi seems to be getting awfully friendly with him up there. He can’t possibly be thinking of asking the world-renowned Wes Guldstrand to be a potential sponsor. Takeshi wouldn’t stoop that low,” said Cunningham as he continued to watch the two from afar.

Blair scoffed at all the attention Takeshi was receiving. “Like I care what that kid does. And why do you care? You… jealous?” she asked.

Cunningham didn’t bite at her sarcastic jab, but instead merely gave her a smile and patted her on the shoulder. “And what ever gave you that impression? But do you see, the woman standing by his side with the face cover?” he asked.

Blair looked back to Guldstrand, focusing then on the woman Cunningham was referring to. She had a face mask that covered the lower portion of her face, starting from her shoulders and stopping right below her eyes above her nose. She too was wearing a suit, except hers was less tidy and stylish than Blair’s; she lacked a tie, her top three buttons of her blouse were undone, and her blazer was fully unbuttoned. As Blair continued to inspect the woman, the woman all of a sudden turned towards her, meeting her awkward stare. The woman’s eyes were cold and ruthless, piercing straight into Blair’s soul.

Blair let out a small gasp and diverted her eyes away. “Who- Who is she?” she asked.

Cunningham shook his head. “I have no idea, but she’s been shadowing Guldstrand wherever he goes, never leaving his side even for a moment,” he said. He patted her again and began walking off. “I’ll catch you later, Captain. I’ve got a few things to take care of before we’re all gathered in the dining hall…” With that, he left Blair and Roxanne, disappearing into the crowd of people.

Having left to get a few bits to eat while Blair and Cunningham talked, Roxanne returned and handed Blair a small plate of tiny morsels. “Want any?” she asked, munching on a couple pieces of cheese.

“Sure,” said Blair as she took one of the cheese slices and popped it into her mouth.

When it was time to gather in the main dining room, Blair and Roxanne met up with the rest of their team as they followed the flood of guests inward. When they arrived at the opening to the dining hall, there was staff there to point out where their reserved seats were. Since it was a charity ball, the members of the IGPX teams were split up amongst the tables, having to share them with the paying guests that wanted to sit with them. Fortunately for them, Blair and Roxanne got to sit together at a table while Sarah and Lucia sat at one and the Anko twins at another. After being told where their table was, Blair and Roxanne proceeded inside, finding their seats with their nametags placed in front of it.

“I hope we have some interesting people to talk to,” said Blair as she took her seat along with Blair.

Roxanne shrugged, sitting down as well. “It doesn’t matter to me. It’s just a charity ball. All we need to do is keep smiling and be friendly. Then it’ll be over,” she said.

“I suppose…,” said Blair as she skimmed over her silverware and empty plates.

More and more people began pouring in and their table soon filled up with guests. Along with the two of them, the people sitting at their table included a big-shot movie star and his wife, a famous tennis player, a couple of wealthy business owners, and a retired politician. While they waited, their fellow diners all introduced themselves to Blair and Roxanne, idly chatting with them for a bit. Feeling uncomfortable with being called Ms. Casing and Ms. Schultz, the two of them said it was all right to call them by their first names; being called by their last names without a military rank preceding it made them feel old. Once everyone had their seats, the Chairman of the IGPX Committee took to the podium and greeted everyone with a prepared speech, talking about the charity and the upcoming festivities. As soon as the formalities were out of the way, the dinner portion began with the staff bringing out everyone’s meals.

“I hope I made the right choice,” said Blair to Roxanne in a hushed tone.

“Well, it’s not like you had many meals to choose from online. It was either chicken, steak, fish, or vegetarian,” said Roxanne, placing her napkin in her lap.

“Uh huh. I just hope they don’t screw it up,” said Blair, watching as staff continued bringing out meals to the other guests. “I’m very particular about my steak.”

“Don’t worry about it, Hon. It’s professionally prepared. Five-star, to be exact,” said Roxanne.

Once everyone had their meals in front of them, complete with bread, salads, and drinks, Blair and the others began digging in. After taking a few bites, one of the table guests started up the Q and A session, beginning with Blair first. “So, like we said before, my wife and I are big fans of yours, Ms. Casing,” said the movie star. “I’m sorry. Or rather, Blair, was it?”

Blair swallowed a bite of her salad and directed her attention towards him. “Why thank you,” she said with a friendly smile. “And yes, that’s correct.”

“Yeah, my husband had to pay a pretty penny during the auction to reserve a spot for both of us at your table. Even though there are talented pilots like Mr. Jin or Mr. Cunningham present, he and I wanted to meet you and Ms. Schultz, here. I’m just so surprised that so many others wanted to meet you as well,” said the movie star’s wife.

“We’re also so impressed that you’re war heroes at such a young age. You must have lots of stories to tell from your military days,” said the movie star.

Roxanne nodded, setting down her fork. “That we do. We’ve been through so much in such a small time frame that we could even write a book about it,” she said with a chuckle. The others laughed as well at her humorous quip.

“Tell us more about your love life. We’re all curious to know how you and Roxanne met and how long you’ve been together,” said the famous tennis player as she ignored her meal, smiling at Blair. The others nodded as well, eager to hear what Blair and Roxanne had to say on the matter.

Blair was caught off guard by the tennis player’s straightforwardness, as was Roxanne. “Our love life, huh? Well… what’s there to talk about?” asked Blair with a nervous snicker.

“How did you meet? Where? And when? Everyone’s been talking about the two love birds from Team Balisong,” said the tennis player.

Flustered by being put on the spot, Blair was unsure of how to begin until one of the businessmen saved her by intervening. “I’m sure they’ll do an interview for a big-time magazine detailing all of that, miss. Let’s not bother these two too much about that and let them enjoy their dinner,” he said, looking from Blair and Roxanne back to the tennis player. Blair sighed with relief, taking a drink of her water.

The tennis player appeared disappointed, but agreed, dropping the subject. The businessman smirked at the young tennis player then turned back to the two pilots. “I do, however, have a question of my own, but it has nothing to do with your romantic love life,” he said.

“Uh, all right. Fire away,” said Blair.

The businessman shook his head with a smile. “I’m afraid this question is actually for Ms. Schultz, I mean, Roxanne,” he said, looking to her.

“Me?” asked Roxanne as she gestured to herself.

“Yes. I wanted to ask you if it’s true that you speak German fluently,” said the businessman.

Roxanne chuckled and looked at him with a smug expression. “Sprechen Sie Deutsch, Herr? ( _Do you speak German, mister?_ ),” she asked.

Hearing her speak flawlessly in German, the businessman laughed as well and grew more intrigued with her. “Tat ich tun, Frau Schultz. Sie spricht sehr gut. Wo haben Sie gelernt, Deutsch zu sprechen? ( _Indeed I do, Miss Schultz. You speak very well. Where did you learn to speak German?_ ),” he asked, equally as fluent. The table gently applauded Roxanne at her fluent speech as did Blair, who rarely got to hear her speak in German.

Content that she hadn’t gone rusty, Roxanne continued on in English. “I was born in the United States, but moved to Germany with my parents while I was young; spent a good portion of my childhood overseas. I learned both English and German while I was in school, and my parents spoke to me in both, so that’s why I can fluently speak both languages,” she said.

The businessman was impressed and continued to give Roxanne his utmost attention. “Ah, I see. So your parents worked in Germany?” he asked.

“Why yes. They’re both Air Force officers and were stationed at Ramstein Air Base for a while,” said Roxanne.

“Are they what influenced you to join the Air Force?” asked the retired politician.

Roxanne sighed subtly, glancing away. “I guess you can say that,” she said.

The tennis player was impressed with Roxanne after hearing her speak. Curious, she then looked to Blair. “What about you, Blair? Can you speak another language like your lover?” she asked, an enthusiastic grin on her face.

Blair nearly spat out her drink after having heard Roxanne be so blatantly referred to as her lover. “Uh, yeah. I can speak Japanese fluently,” she said after wiping her mouth.

The tennis player’s eyes lit up. “Say something in Japanese! C’mon, give us a demonstration,” she said.

Blair rolled her eyes and sighed heavily, speaking in Japanese. “( _You’re kinda cute and I wouldn’t mind sleeping with you_.),” she said, looking the tennis player dead in the eye. Since she figured no one at the table understood Japanese, she decided to have some fun with the woman.

“Wow. What did you say?” asked the tennis player as she clapped.

“Oh, nothing much. I just said how nice it was to meet you,” said Blair, turning to Roxanne and giving her a discrete wink.

The tennis player didn’t catch on to Blair’s joke and smiled. “You two are so talented and awesome. Where did you learn to speak Japanese, Blair?” she asked. The others at the table were also curious, especially after hearing Roxanne’s interesting explanation.

“Hmm, well… I too lived overseas during my youth, except I was born there, unlike my _lover_ here,” she said, snickering as she bumped shoulders with Roxanne.

“Were your parents in the Air Force too?” asked the movie star.

Blair shook her head. “Nope. My dad was a Navy fighter-pilot. Before he was stationed at his final post, he was stationed on board the U.S.S. Freedom, the largest carrier in the U.S. Navy’s fleet. After that, he was transferred to Naval Air Facility Atsugi in Japan for a non-seafaring position, the place where I was born after he met my mom. Lived in Japan until like halfway through high-school, then we moved to the U.S. when he retired from the Navy,” she said.

“How sweet. Falling in love with a local,” said the retired politician. “What does your mother do?”

“My mom? She was a school teacher. I… won’t go in detail on how they met. It kinda makes me uncomfortable,” said Blair as she scratched the ridge of her nose with her finger.

The businessman chuckled and turned to Roxanne. “All right, we won’t push that subject much further. So, my German-speaking friend, I’ve heard that you are both college graduates. What did you study, might I ask?” he said.

Roxanne smiled, remembering her glorious college days with Blair. “Ah, college. Such wonderful memories. Well, Blair and I both graduated from Metro Carolina State University. I graduated with a B.S. in Political Science and minors in German, International Relations, and Military Studies. Blair, on the other hand, graduated with…” She looked to Blair, prompting her to pick up where she left off.

Blair caught her drift and cleared her throat. “…a B.A. in Political Science with a minor in both Japanese and Military Studies,” she said.

“Impressive. Not only are you two strong and talented, but you’re also book smart as well,” said the businessman, giving an approving nod.

The tennis player was also impressed. “Yeah. You’re lucky you have each other. If either one of you were single, I’d snatch you up like that,” she said, snapping her fingers to emphasize the point.

“Oh, well- I’m flattered,” said Roxanne, blushing slightly.

Blair, in contrast, huffed and frowned at the tennis player. “Thanks, but you better not get any funny ideas about my girl here. She’s taken already,” she said.

Seeing Blair eye her like that, the tennis player raised her hands up to diffuse the situation. “Whoa there, I didn’t mean anything by it, Blair. I was just saying how you two strike my fancy, that’s all. I’m not hitting on either of you, so don’t worry,” she said.

“If you say so. I’ll take that as a compliment then,” said Blair, sticking her tongue out at her with a wink.

The tennis player exhaled as Blair lightened up, taking a drink of her sweet tea before returning to her meal. The table continued to eat their dinner, sporadically pausing to ask Blair and Roxanne a question that popped into their head. After everyone in the dining hall had finished their meals, a few officials from the IGPX and the Chairman returned to the podium to say a few words. They thanked everyone for attending and said how much money they had raised for the various charities. To finish the meal, the Chairman invited each team to the podium to say a few words to the entire room. The first team up was Team Satomi, the crowd favorite. After them, each other team took to center stage, saying a few words to the patrons of the ball. Team Balisong was last, being the newcomers to the IG-1 world, and when it was their turn, the team assembled on the stage behind the podium.

Sarah, being the team’s manager, started them off. “Good evening, everyone. Now I won’t try to follow in the wake of my predecessors and give a long, drawn out speech on how we’re going to do our best and yatta yatta yatta. I’ll keep it short, sweet, and to the point. First off, I’d like to thank the Chairman of the IGPX Committee and everyone on his staff for inviting us this evening,” she said, looking to the Chairman and giving him an appreciative nod. After that, she continued on to talk about the team’s place in the IG-1 and their goals for the upcoming race. Once she was done addressing the crowd, she allowed each of the pilots and Lucia to say a few words before leaving the stage. Lucia was first to go, followed by Miharu and Shizune, and then Roxanne.

Blair was last to go, and when she took her place behind the podium, she calmly adjusted the microphone and glanced around the room. “Hello, everyone. I’m Blair Casing, Captain of Team Balisong. I’d like to just take a few moments to personally address my fellow racers, if you don’t mind…” She grinned and searched for the pilots scattered throughout the room. “Team Balisong is here to stay, and if you think you can tread on us like some common newbies, you’re wrong. We’re going to rock you, and we’re going to win! Team Balisong, HO-AH!” With that, her fellow pilots joined her in the traditional Air Force chant as Lucia slapped her forehead in embarrassment. Sarah gave an approving smile while Maggie just smiled behind Lucia.

After Team Balisong had their share of the publicity, they returned to their tables as the Chairman took his place back behind the podium. “Well, those were some inspiring words from our esteemed pilots, wouldn’t you say, folks? Now that we’ve all had our fill of food and fame, I recommend you all to remain for another hour of socializing and merriment. There will be refreshments and desserts for you all out in the main atrium. There, you continue to mingle with the pilots and their teams. There will even be a fireworks display out above the track in thirty minutes, so that should be something worth staying for,” he said. After a few more words, he released everyone from the dining hall, allowing them to stay to enjoy more entertainment or proceed on home.

When Blair and Roxanne left the dining room, they went off and did their own thing while the others stayed behind to entertain more fans. They took their time walking, heading to no particular location as they wandered about.

“I’m glad that’s over with,” said Blair as she stretched her arms out in front of her.

Roxanne held Blair’s hand as she turned her head towards her. “Oh c’mon, it wasn’t that bad. Our table was actually pretty nice, apart from the overly curt tennis player,” she said.

Blair snickered, tenderly grasping on to her hand. “Okay, I actually kinda liked her despite her puckish personality,” she said.

“Yeah, I guess. So what did you say to her exactly?” asked Roxanne.

Smirking, Blair looked to her and said, “I told her that she was cute and that I wouldn’t mind sleeping with her. Course she didn’t understand any of it so a win for me,” she said.

Roxanne rolled her eyes playfully, shaking her head as well. “Geez, you’re such a tease,” she said.

“Yeah, but I’m your little tease,” said Blair, nuzzling her nose against Roxanne’s shoulder.

“Course you are, Hon,” said Roxanne, rustling Blair’s hair with a giggle.

After picking up a few dessert items, they took their plates and found themselves outside. It was a bit nippy outdoors, so not many guests were with them at the time. Blair and Roxanne made their way over to the edge of the balcony, looking out into the distance to see the city around them.

“Ah. It’s so calm and nice out tonight,” said Blair, resting her head on her hand, gazing out onto the track. She took off her glasses and placed them inside her jacket in a pocket.

Roxanne set her plate down on the railing, looking out as well. “It is, isn’t it?” she said.

Blair sighed peacefully with a smile. “I’m kinda glad we didn’t have to tell them how we met. It would have been a long-ass story,” she said.

“Indeed it would have, but after she mentioned it, I couldn’t help but reverie in the memory of it,” said Roxanne.

“Yeah. Me too,” said Blair, suddenly realizing that more and more people were joining them outside. “There’s a lot of people coming out. Something must be going on.”

Roxanne glanced at her watch then looked to the crowd amassing on the balcony adjacent to them. “It’s almost 9:30, so the fireworks are about to begin,” she said, turning back to Blair.

“Fireworks…” said Blair before popping a piece of chocolate into her mouth. “Now that brings back memories, don’t it?” she said as she chewed the chocolaty morsel.

Roxanne took a bit of chocolate as well, biting into it and letting it melt in her mouth. “Very good memories. The best of my life so far I’d have to say,” she said, snuggling up close to Blair. Suddenly, the night sky grew ablaze as the fireworks began exploding high above them, sprinkling their beauty against the black canvas.

Blair smiled warmly, holding Roxanne against her. “Want to take a trip down memory lane?” she asked, looking deeply into Roxanne’s beautiful eyes after swallowing her chocolate.

Roxanne swallowed hers as well, moving her face closer to Blair’s. “Yes I do,” she said. As the explosions of the fireworks continued to sound off in the night sky above, Blair closed the distance and kissed Roxanne lovingly, gently caressing the back of her head as they locked lips in the brisk summer breeze.


	7. Cadet Casing

_Ten years ago… in the year 2041…_

A week had passed since Blair started her Freshman year in college, attending Metro Carolina State University after graduating from high school. During her last few months of Senior year in high school, she decided she wanted to be an Air Force fighter-pilot and enrolled in Air Force ROTC at MC State, instead of going through with her original plan of becoming a computer programmer in the College of Engineering. After having been given her parents’ blessing, she changed her intended major to Political Science in the College of Humanities, also signing up to be a cadet in the college’s AFROTC program, Detachment 959.

“Five minutes until the class starts; I can make it!” said Blair to herself as she hurried across campus to get to her first ROTC class of the semester. She underestimated the amount of time it took to get lunch and was running late. She traversed through various side paths and tunnels along the way to her next class, finally arriving at her destination with a couple of minutes to spare. As she approached the classroom, she slowed to a brisk walk in order to catch her breath, straightening out her hair and clothes to look more professional. Her hair was shoulder-length and flowed freely instead of styled in her usual ponytail. Unfortunately, there were still large traces of bright-orange highlights present in her hair, a remnant of her high school days. She didn’t have a uniform yet or any other piece of Air Force-issued clothing; instead, she was dressed in business-casual civilian attire, consisting of khaki pants and a plain red polo.

At the entrance to the classroom, there was a fellow classmate standing in the doorway, looking down the hall towards the cadre office. Blair found it odd but greeted him with a friendly smile anyway as she entered, glancing around the room at the others present. Fortunately for her, the instructor wasn’t there, so she had some time to prepare for class. There was another girl there, one she recognized from orientation a few days prior. As she made her way to an empty seat at the front of the room next to her, she noticed that everyone had their polo shirts tucked in and wore a belt, unlike her. Not wanting to feel out of place, she at least tucked in her shirt before sitting down next to the only other girl in the room.

“Good afternoon, Cadet Casing.”

Blair turned to the sociable girl sitting next to her after setting down her backpack. “Uh, good afternoon to you too, Cadet… Schwartz?” she said.

The girl chuckled as Blair got her name wrong. “It’s Schultz. Cadet Roxanne Schultz. But you were close,” she said.

“Ah. I’m Blair Casing, er- Cadet Blair Casing, I guess,” said Blair.

“Pleasure to meet you, Blair,” said Roxanne as she reached out for a friendly shake.

As Blair was about to shake her hand, the cadet at the door suddenly spoke out. “Standby…,” he said, prompting the room to quiet down and move to the edge of their seats. Most of the cadets there knew what was about to happen, mainly from being in JROTC in high school, and prepared for the coming arrival of the instructor, which was an active duty officer of the U.S. Air Force.

Blair, on the other hand, didn’t know what was going on and was confused, almost panicked as she tried to figure things out. “What’s going on?” she whispered to Roxanne, but she didn’t hear her.

“Room, tench-HUT!” said the cadet manning the door as he transitioned to the position of attention. Once the command was given, everyone in the room followed suit and stood at attention. Blair did her best to copy Roxanne, but her feet were positioned wrong as well as her hands. Also unlike most of the others, Blair moved her head slightly to see who it was that entered the room which was a no-no while at the position of attention.

“At ease,” said the captain as he entered the room and made his way to the front.

Roxanne and the others promptly took their seats while Blair was last to sit, unsure of what to do. The captain took his place behind the front podium and took roll, making sure everyone was present and accounted for. Blair gulped, her hands somewhat shaking from not being aware of standard military customs and courtesies. The others seemed to already know most of this stuff, so she wondered how come she didn’t.

The first ROTC class was pretty straightforward. The instructor, Captain Zane, passed out and went over the syllabus, hitting the main points like attendance, grading, and future assignments. He also elaborated more on the accompanying LLAB (Leadership Laboratory), which was an extension of their Air Force lessons and the more “hands-on” portion of their curriculum. Blair did her best to remember everything he said, but due to the bombardment of new information, some things may have slipped through the cracks. Her neighbor, however, was constantly taking notes on the syllabus she was given. Perhaps if Blair missed anything, she could ask Roxanne instead of the instructor himself out of embarrassment.

When the class was over, the room was called to attention again by the same cadet as before. Captain Zane put them at ease and stayed behind to answer any questions the cadets might have had. Before leaving, Blair had something she had to take care of, something concerning a fellow classmate of hers. After collecting her things, she followed Roxanne out of the classroom.

“Hey, uh... Cadet Schultz. Got a minute?” asked Blair as she came up beside her.

Roxanne kept moving and glanced to her side, seeing Blair walking alongside her. “Oh, sure. And you can call me Roxanne when we’re not doing any official ROTC business,” she said.

“Yeah okay. So…” said Blair as she gathered her words, swallowing her pride as she attempted to ask for help.

“Hmm?” asked Roxanne, tilting her head slightly with slight smile on her face.

Blair let out a sigh and finally got it over with. “Look. You seem like a smart gal, knowing all about standing at attention and all that…,” she said.

“Yeah. So?” asked Roxanne, still focused on Blair.

“Well, I… sorta… don’t know any of that. So I was wondering if you’d, I don’t know- help bring me up to speed?” asked Blair with a nervous smile.

Roxanne hummed softly, still with an amused expression on her face. “Sure. I’d be happy to help out a fellow cadet. When would you like to meet up?” she asked.

Blair relaxed, seeing that Roxanne was so willing to help out a newbie. “When’s your last class?” she asked.

“I’m heading there now. It ends at sixteen hundred hours,” said Roxanne.

“…sixteen hundred hours?” asked Blair, cocking her head to the side in confusion.

“That’s 4:00 P.M. in military time,” said Roxanne with a chuckle.

Blair frowned, dismayed and disappointed at herself for not knowing that. “You see? I need all the help I can get,” she said.

Roxanne took a turn and exited the building, followed closely by Blair right after her. “Don’t worry, Blair. After today with me, you’ll be caught up in no time,” said Roxanne.

Blair gave a nod. “All right then. I look forward to it. I get off at four forty-five, so maybe we can grab dinner together and start once we’re done? I mean, if you don’t have any plans later,” she said.

“Sure. We can talk during dinner, then afterwards, we’ll head to one of the lounges at my dorm,” said Roxanne.

“Cool. Give me your number and I’ll give you a call once I’m done,” said Blair as she pulled out her phone.

Roxanne took out her phone as well and exchanged it with Blair. “Just input your contact information, like your phone and email. I’ll do the same on yours,” she said.

Blair complied and added her cellphone number and email address into Roxanne’s phone. Afterwards, they exchanged phones again and went their separate ways, heading off to their last class of the day.

#

After her last class, Blair whipped out her phone as she walked along and gave her new acquaintance, Roxanne, a call.

“Hello?” asked Roxanne, answering her phone.

“It’s me. Blair. I’m done with my classes for the day. Where do you want to meet up?” asked Blair as she walked along through the campus.

Roxanne was hanging out, working on her studies when Blair called. “Hmm… where are you? I’m in the library at the moment,” she said.

Blair looked around for a landmark to give her, not quite familiar with the campus’ layout yet. “Uh, I’m just passing Allen Hall. I’m headed towards the Brickyard now,” she said.

“Oh, cool. The Atrium is right next door to me. Wanna pick up something there?” asked Roxanne.

“The Atrium? Umm… what do they have there again? I’ve been there once, only briefly though,” said Blair.

“Well, they have a wide variety. You can get sandwiches, pizza, pasta, salads and subs. They even have Chinese and sushi there. Take your pick,” said Roxanne while packing up her things.

Blair thought the choices over, trying to decide on what she wanted. “That’s a lot more than I remember. Sure. We can eat there. I’m headed there now,” she said, changing her course for the Atrium.

Roxanne acknowledged and hung up before she finished gathering her school work.

The weather outside was still hot and humid, typical of the summer months; Blair particularly didn’t favor the sticky, scorching summer weather, but instead liked the brisk, chilly weather of winter. It didn’t help that she was in North Carolina where the weather was bipolar and not consistent like where she grew up. As she trudged along through the campus, she couldn’t help but feel a tad bit uncomfortable, especially since she was walking around under the heat of the sun in khakis and a polo shirt tucked into her pants. Finally making it to the Brickyard, the wide open brick courtyard in front of the library, she wiped her brow and panted as the Atrium came into view. The area was bustling with activity as students walked all about, heading to and from the library, Atrium, and other parts of campus. When she arrived at the Atrium, she spotted Roxanne waiting outside in the shade under an overhang.

Blair waved at her and Roxanne did the same. “Sup,” said Blair as she made her way over to her.

“Nothing much. I was just getting some homework done,” said Roxanne as she proceeded inside with Blair.

The lunchtime rush had died down and it wasn’t as crowded as it normally was. The two of them headed passed the registers and towards the food court where all the vendors were. Roxanne opted to get a personal-pan veggie pizza from the Italian section, whereas Blair decided to grab some sesame chicken and fried rice from the Asian section. After paying for their meals using the meal plan tied to their school ID cards, they found a table to themselves and began digging in.

“So, how’s the college life been so far?” asked Roxanne.

“Hmm?” said Blair, her mouth full of chicken and rice as she looked up at Roxanne.

“I mean, how are you adjusting to being both an Air Force cadet and college student? It can’t be all you expected, having all these regulations and such about what you can and can’t do,” said Roxanne.

Blair swallowed her food and shrugged, taking a drink from her bottled water. “Eh, it’s not too bad. Haven’t had any trouble so far when it comes to maintaining a cadet-like appearance while in the college environment. I’ve done whatever I wanted whenever I felt like it without it interfering. The only thing that’s really been different is me having to cut my hair, but other than that, I haven’t noticed. Why do you ask?”

“Oh, um. No reason in particular. I just wasn’t sure if you knew what you were getting into when you signed up for ROTC,” said Roxanne, not realizing the potential starkness of her words.

Blair furrowed her brow. “What are you getting at?” she asked, her voice harsh and accusing in tone.

Seeing Blair’s expression and recalling her own words, Roxanne raised her hands and motioned that she didn’t mean anything by it. “Ah! I didn’t mean to offend you! It’s just, you know. You kinda seem out of place in all this,” she said. Immediately after saying that, she gestured with her hands again as she realized what she had just said. “I mean not like that! I’m not insulting how you look or anything. You just seem…” Roxanne paused to carefully phrase her next words. “...uncomfortable.”

As Blair watched Roxanne become flustered before her, she couldn’t help but crack a slight smile. “I’m just messin’ with ya. I know what you meant,” said Blair. Leaning over, she gave Roxanne a pat on the shoulder from across the table then sat back down in her seat. “And I’ll have you know that my dad was a former Navy fighter-pilot, so I’m not completely out of touch with the military world.”

Roxanne exhaled loudly, relieved she didn’t upset Blair with her poor choice of words. “That’s good. I thought I had already gotten on your bad side,” she said before taking a drink. “Your dad was a Navy pilot?” she asked, intrigued to learn more about Blair’s background.

“Yeah. He retired as a commander and was stationed on aircraft carriers, flying the F-35C on his sorties,” said Blair.

“Is he the reason you wanted to join up? How come you didn’t do Navy ROTC?” asked Roxanne.

“Well, yes and no. After he left the service, he took up a job as a commercial airline pilot. He also does a lot of flying recreationally, so we’ve had a lot of time in the air already,” said Blair.

“…we?” asked Roxanne, raising an eyebrow.

Blair had a smug look on her face as she got to boast a bit about herself. “Yeah. I’m a certified pilot already. I’ve been flying prop planes for quite a while now. I’ve even been in the backseat of some Navy jets too,” she said.

“Wow, that’s pretty cool. I think some of the other cadets are pilots as well,” said Roxanne, tapping her chin as she tried to recall her fellow classmates.

“Mmmhmm. At first, I had no intention of joining the military after high school. Instead, I was set on becoming a computer programmer and get into game design. But… I hate math. I HATE math so much, and when I found out there would be a lot of that in college under my degree plan, I started rethinking my career path,” said Blair, scoffing at the very notion of doing more mathematics.

“Well, math isn’t totally out of the picture. I’m sure every major has some sort of math requirement,” said Roxanne.

Blair let out a big groan as she rubbed her forehead with her palms. “I know. Don’t remind me,” she said, sneering at the fact that she still had a few math courses left to do. “But anyway, since I love flying, and have no qualms about killing people that deserve it, I chose to do ROTC. And I chose the Air Force since it is after all where the country’s best and brightest are. Well, no offense to the Navy, Dad.”

Roxanne chuckled a bit at that, fascinated by her frank reasoning. “I see. That’s… an interesting way of putting it,” she said.

“Yeah, well. I figured I’d have a better chance of becoming a pilot in the Air Force rather than any other service,” said Blair.

“And your dad is okay with that?” asked Roxanne.

“At first, he kinda wished I joined the Navy like him. But I’d rather not be restrained to the boring confines of a seafaring carrier. He’s just happy that I’m happy. That’s basically how things go at my household,” said Blair.

“Nice, I guess. I’ve always wanted to be a pilot. I actually wish I could be a fighter-pilot,” said Roxanne, sighing as she picked at one of her pizza slices.

“Hmm? Is there something wrong with you, I mean, health-wise?” asked Blair.

Roxanne looked up and shook her head. “Nope. I’m as healthy as an ox,” she said.

“Then why don’t you try to get a pilot slot like me?” asked Blair.

Roxanne glanced away, faintly disheartened. “It’s… not that easy. You see, my parents are both officers in the Air Force. While I can’t say what they do exactly, I’ll just say they deal with a lot of high-end, classified stuff. Ever since I was born, they’ve been grooming me to become an intel officer like them, putting me in the ‘best’ schools, making me do extracurricular stuff, etc. So I kinda owe it to them to follow in their footsteps since they’ve given me so much, you know?” she said.

“Pfft, so it’s that kind of family life, huh? You got those stiff, uptight parents who are always on about straight A’s and proper etiquette. Where’s the fun in that?” asked Blair.

Roxanne huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. “We have fun… sometimes…” she said.

“Like what? Going to see classical concerts, watching ballets, and visiting museums?” said Blair with a smirk.

Shocked, Roxanne pouted, her arms still crossed in defiance. “…I kinda like listening to live classical music…” she said.

As soon as she heard that she was spot on, Blair couldn’t help but let out a laugh or two. “Oh man, Roxanne! You mean to tell me you’ve never been to an amusement park? Watched movies in the theater? Or done anything else like that?” she asked.

Roxanne remained silent, diverting her gaze away from Blair.

“Well then. We’re going to have to fix that now, won’t we? You’re in college now, and since I’ve had plenty of experience having real fun, I’ll show you a good time whenever we have days off or something. It’s the least I can do for agreeing to help me catch up on all this ROTC stuff, right?” said Blair.

After finishing off her iced tea, Roxanne looked to Blair and gave a smile. “I’d like that, so long as I don’t have any homework, tests, or projects on my plate,” she said.

“Hmph. All right, Ms. Workaholic. But you know what they say: all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy,” said Blair, giving her a wink.

“Sure sure. Now let’s get back on track. Do you know anything about Air Force ROTC?” asked Roxanne.

Blair took a moment to think the question over, looking up as she tapped her chin with a finger. “Uh… we got planes… and bombers. I know the officer’s rank structure and-”

“I mean ROTC related stuff. Do you know anything, and I mean anything about being a cadet?” asked Roxanne.

“Oh. Well, other than what was covered today and during orientation, not much,” said Blair with a sheepish smile.

Roxanne let out a tired sigh, massaging her temples with her hands. “At least we know where to start,” she said.

Before Roxanne could continue, a fellow cadet stopped by to see how they were doing. “Good afternoon, cadets,” he said as he approached their table.

Roxanne’s ears twitched as she turned to see who it was; it was a POC-level cadet, meaning he had finished Field Training and had attained a cadet officer rank. Only Juniors and Seniors were part of the POC-corps so it meant he was an upperclassman. She couldn’t remember his exact rank and class, but she did know he was a POC at least. “Good afternoon, sir!” she said.

Seeing the older guy standing at their table interrupting their conversation, Blair placed an elbow on the table and rested her chin on her hand, giving him a sneer. “And what do you want, buddy-boy? Trying to pass the time by hitting on some hot chicks sitting all alone?” she asked, completely unaware of his standing as a POC-cadet.

The cadet glared at Blair then turned to Roxanne who was shocked by Blair’s disrespectfulness towards the senior cadet. “It’s Day 1 and you’re already starting off on the wrong foot, huh,” he said, shaking his head.

“Blair! This is one of the POC cadets! Mind your manners!” said Roxanne, meeting Blair’s eyes with a harsh look. She then turned back to the cadet and apologized on her behalf. “Excuse my friend here. She’s still wet behind the ears and has no idea what she’s doing. I’m going to help her catch up on proper etiquette, so this will never happen again, sir.”

Blair gulped and quickly apologized as well. “Oh! Um, I’m sorry. I- I didn’t know you were a cadet also,” she said as she started to sweat from embarrassment.

The cadet was in regular civilian attire and not in uniform or business casual like Blair and Roxanne were. He shook his head once more but remained professional, not letting Blair’s comment get to him. “I’ll let it slide just this once, cadet. But from now on, you better be on your best behavior, both in and out of the classroom. You represent more than just yourself now. You’re an image of the Air Force and I expect you both to reflect that in your everyday lives,” he said. He sighed then lightened his demeanor with a smile. “I just came by to see how you two were doing and if you had any questions so far.”

Roxanne relaxed, easing up in front of the higher ranking cadet. “Oh. In that case, we’re doing fine, sir. If either I or Cadet Casing here has something come up, we’ll let one of the POC or one of the cadre know,” she said.

The cadet nodded and put his hands in his pockets. “I’m Cadet McCloud, by the way. So if there isn’t anything you wanted to ask, I’ll leave you two alone,” he said.

As he left, Blair kept her eyes on him until he was far out of earshot. She sighed with relief and looked to Roxanne across the table. “So… I’m your friend?” she asked.

Roxanne also sighed then glanced over at Blair. “Huh?” she said, confused as to what she meant.

“You said ‘my friend here’ to him. So we’re officially friends?” asked Blair.

“Of course we are. We are cadets after all,” said Roxanne with a smile. “Unless you don’t want to…”

“No, I mean. It’s cool that we can be friends. I’m from out of state, so I could use a good friend,” said Blair with an uneasy smile.

“I’d love to be your friend. I live just half an hour away, so I can show you around whenever you like,” said Roxanne.

“Uh huh. That’d be awesome,” said Blair.

There was a short period of silence as the two finished up their meals. Suddenly, Roxanne decided to break the stillness. “So… you think I’m a hot chick?” she asked with a wily smirk.

Blair looked up at her and blushed, then turned away as her cheeks continued to redden. “I- I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she said.

Roxanne continued to smirk then got up, picking up her bag. “I’m just teasing. I know what you meant when you were talking to Cadet McCloud earlier,” she said. She then proceeded to clean up her area as did Blair before leaving the Atrium.

As they walked back to Roxanne’s dorm, she went over some common knowledge that every cadet should know, things like: proper classroom procedures, when and whom to salute, etc. When they arrived, Roxanne led Blair to one of the study lounges on the basement floor of her building. They found a room that wasn’t being used and set up shop, claiming it as their own. Once they were situated in, Roxanne continued to go over the basics. Blair remained attentive throughout the session, taking in every bit of information Roxanne told her. After going over the theoretical and rote memorization aspects of AFROTC, she moved on to the more physical aspects of being an Air Force cadet.

“Any questions so far about what we covered?” asked Roxanne as she sat in the seat next to Blair.

Blair leaned back in her chair, going over everything in her head. “Let’s see. Salute only active duty officers -doesn’t matter what branch- and POC -only Air Force- when outside and inside only when reporting in to the cadre. Um, when an officer enters the room or area, the first cadet to notice them calls the room to attention. We address officers as ‘sir’ or ‘ma’am’ but we can also call NCOs that as well. I think I’ve got it so far,” she said, smug with the retention of information from her lessons.

“Good. Now we’re going to move on to standing at attention and basic facing movements,” said Roxanne as she stood up. She moved to an open area of the room and waited for Blair.

“Facing movements?” asked Blair as she got up and followed her.

“Yes. Static drill is what’s next on our agenda. First, let’s see you standing at attention. So…” said Roxanne. She then stood at attention and inhaled deeply, taking the role of a POC and practicing her command voice. “Room! Tench-HUT!”

Hearing the command, Blair shuddered as she was slightly startled and tried her best to imitate the position from earlier. She stood with her feet together and her arms at her side, keeping her chin up and looking ahead.

After giving her command, Roxanne loosened up and began inspecting Blair’s form. “Hmm… get your feet spread apart; they should be at a forty-five degree angle. And your hands- Unlock your eyes,” said Roxanne as she stood in front of Blair.

“Unlock my eyes?” asked Blair.

“That’s the command, per se, to allow a cadet to look around freely while at the position of attention. When at attention, your head should be locked in place and your eyes should be looking ahead, just above ‘the horizon’. So when I say ‘unlock your eyes’, I want you to look at what I’m doing so you can see how to properly do it,” said Roxanne.

“Okay,” said Blair as she remained still, only moving her head to see what Roxanne was doing.

“Look, your hands are in the kind of fist like you’re about to punch someone. They should look more like this, like you’re holding a roll of quarters. See?” said Roxanne as she demonstrated the correct way to keep her hands while at attention. Blair copied what she was doing and got her hands looking proper, returning them to her sides. “Good. Now look down and fix your feet. Like this,” said Roxanne as she moved on to proper foot placement.

“Um, okay…,” said Blair as she corrected her feet. Once she had that down as well as her hands, she passed the “standing at attention” portion of the lesson.

“Good. Very good. You’re looking more like a proper cadet now. While we’re on the topic of standing at attention, let’s go over the proper salute, which can only be done while standing at attention, okay?” said Roxanne as she put Blair at ease, meaning she didn’t have to be standing at attention anymore.

After getting permission to stand at ease, Blair loosened up and stood freely. “If you say so. So the salute, huh? How hard can it be?” she asked.

Roxanne frowned a bit, standing back from Blair so she could get a better view. “It’s a lot harder than it looks. Most new cadets think they know how to salute, but when they do it for the first time, they unconsciously do one thing or another to screw it up. So watch carefully,” she said before standing at attention and rendering a firm, crisp salute.

Seeing Roxanne look so serious and professional, Blair chuckled, putting her hands in her pockets with a smirk. “Well done. I can do that,” she said.

“Are you taking note of the way my hand looks? Keep your hand in line with your arm. Keep the wrist straight and hide that thumb. I shouldn’t be able to see the thumb if you’re doing it properly. Also, angle your hand down a bit like so and if you don’t have glasses, the tip of your finger should go here. If you do have glasses, it goes to the corner of the frame. And if you have an cover on, it goes to the edge of the brim. Got all that?” asked Roxanne, still demonstrating the salute while at attention.

“Yeah yeah, I think I can handle it,” said Blair, eager to do a salute.

“All right. Let’s see what you can do. Room, tench-HUT!” said Roxanne after lowering her salute. Once Blair was at attention, she followed through with the next command. “Pre-sent HARMS!” At that instance, Blair rendered a salute, though it wasn’t as spectacular as she had thought. “You see? I knew there would be something wrong. Your hand, keep it straight,” said Roxanne as she got a closer look at Blair’s salute.

“What? It is straight,” said Blair as she almost broke her bearing to look at her hand.

“No… here. Permission to touch?” asked Roxanne.

Blair huffed and almost let out a laugh. “Excuse me?” she asked.

Roxanne sighed and rolled her eyes. “I’m trying to show you the correct way to have your hand, and to do that, I need to position your hand physically, meaning I have to touch you. When a cadet needs to touch another, despite the gender and reason, they have to ask permission just like I did. So again, I ask, permission to touch?” she said.

“Yeah, sure. Just keep it clean, will ya?” said Blair with a chuckle.

“Urgh, so crude. That’s highly inappropriate,” said Roxanne as she took Blair’s hand in hers.

As soon as Blair felt Roxanne’s hands, she unexpectedly twitched slightly with delight. Her hands were warm and soft, her touch delicate and tender. Blair smiled at her touch but kept the enjoyment to herself, quickly recovering her bearing.

Once Blair’s hand was fixed, Roxanne moved back. “There. Feel that? That’s how your hand should be. Now do it again from the beginning,” she said.

For the rest of the evening, Blair and Roxanne practiced saluting and other static drill movements. When it started getting late, they decided to call it a night.

“We’ll call it quits for now. Don’t want to overload your brain now, do we?” said Roxanne with a smile.

“Yeah. We covered a lot tonight. I hope I can remember it all,” said Blair as she stretched her arms into the air.

“Just keep practicing and you’ll get it down in no time. I’m sure we’ll have plenty of practice in class or LLAB,” said Roxanne.

“Mmmhmm. So, I guess I’ll be going then if that’s all for now,” said Blair as she picked up her backpack.

Roxanne began fixing the chairs as they prepared to depart. “Where’re you headed?” she asked, grabbing her bag as well.

“I live in Wood, down in the middle of nowhere,” said Blair.

“Wood, huh? That’s not too terribly far from the Honors Village,” said Roxanne.

“Yeah. I’ll be fine,” said Blair as she started for the door. “Thanks again for helping me out.”

“No problem. If you need anything else, just let me know,” said Roxanne, giving her a friendly smile.

Blair gave her a nod, smiling as well as she left the room and headed back to her dorm. While she was walking home, she smiled to herself, remembering how it felt when Roxanne touched her hand.


	8. The Best of Friends

_Ten years ago… in the year 2041…_

Over the course of the semester, Blair and Roxanne began hanging out more, both in and out of ROTC activities. Blair continued to receive guidance from Roxanne regarding AFROTC customs and courtesies, her form even rivaling some of the more experienced cadets in their class. In return for her tutelage, Blair helped Roxanne relax every now and then by bringing her to parties and showing her a good time. By the middle of the semester, all the other freshmen girls had dropped from the program, leaving Blair and Roxanne as the only female freshmen cadets in the detachment.

It was early October and the two had just ended their midterms. They were about to go on Fall Break which lasted four and a half days. It was Wednesday afternoon and Blair had just finished her last test for the day; all classes starting in the afternoon were cancelled by the university to allow students and staff time to travel for the holiday.

Blair took in a deep breath then exhaled loudly, moping as she left her last midterm exam. “Man… that was such horseshit…,” she said, groaning as she trudged along. While heading back to her dorm, her pocket began vibrating. She reached in and pulled out her phone, tapping on the screen to answer it after seeing it was Roxanne. “What’s up?” she asked.

“Had lunch yet? I was about to get something to eat and wanted to know if you wanted to come with,” said Roxanne as she sat on a couch in the Cadet Training Room (CTR), which was the AFROTC cadet lounge/common room.

“Uh, I just got out of my last class, so I haven’t eaten yet. Where’re you going for food?” asked Blair.

Roxanne sat and thought for a moment, not yearning for anything in particular. “Let’s eat at Clark; it’s closest to my dorm and I need to head there right after,” she said.

“All right. Be right there,” said Blair as she began walking in that direction. When she finally arrived at the dining hall, she met with Roxanne outside the entrance.

Roxanne was browsing her phone, making sure she had all her assignments accounted for. She looked up from her mobile device and smiled. “How’d it go?” she asked, slipping it into her pants pocket.

“How did what go?” asked Blair.

“Didn’t you say your last midterm was today?” asked Roxanne with a chuckle.

Blair groaned loudly as she began walking to the door. “Don’t remind me. It completely sucked, so let’s drop it, kay?” she said.

“All right. I won’t talk about academics anymore,” said Roxanne before following her inside.

Once they had their cards swiped, they grabbed their plates and utensils then proceeded to the food line. Blair wasn’t particularly in a hungry mood, so she only took a few items from the buffet line. The two of them found a table and were slow to begin eating as Blair was still frustrated about her last exam.

After a few moments, Roxanne decided to start up a conversation. “So, what are your plans for the holiday?” she asked.

Blair looked up at her with a rejuvenated smile. “I’ve got nothing goin’ on, but I was hoping we could spend some good quality time together! I’ve been scouting some potential things we could do these past few days, so I was hoping we could plan out our weekend together,” she said.

As soon as Blair said that, Roxanne winced as she looked away. “Yeah… about that…,” she said.

Blair’s enthusiasm was instantly curbed as she saw Roxanne’s uneasiness. “What’s the matter?” she asked.

Roxanne continued to be a bit tense as she tried to avoid the question, but seeing Blair’s unyielding gaze, there was no use hiding it. “I’m actually headed home for the weekend. I- won’t be back until Sunday evening,” she said.

Blair reeled back from the news and was stunned for a moment. “What? You’re going home for the entire break? What am I supposed to do then?” she asked with an exasperated tone.

“Well, my parents wanted to see me so I said sure, why not? I get to enjoy a good night’s sleep… for once, home cooking, and all the comforts of being at home. Why wouldn’t I take the opportunity to head home for the weekend?” said Roxanne.

“I thought… we could hang out or somethin’. It’s not like I have anywhere to go, so I’m stuck here on campus for the break,” said Blair, a bit disappointed.

“Yeah, I’m sorry about that, Blair,” said Roxanne as she gave her an apologetic look. “It’s, you know- family.”

“I guess…,” said Blair before remaining silent, disappointed with the recent news Roxanne had for her. She sighed and focused on her meal, biting into a small slice of pizza.

Roxanne wanted to say something but withheld her tongue, unable to say anything that would’ve made her friend feel better. She remained silent as well and continued eating her meal.

After lunch, they went their separate ways as Roxanne left to go pack her bags. Meanwhile, Blair headed back to her dorm, still dismayed that she’d be spending the break alone and without her new best friend. On the way back, she decided to stop by the LGBT Center on campus to see if there was anything new. When she arrived, she met one of the senior members adding new flyers to the bulletin board.

The member saw Blair coming over and turned to greet her. “What brings you here, Blair? Something troubling you?” she asked.

Blair sighed and put her hands in her pockets. “Nah. Not really, Mindy,” she said.

“Oh? Your face says otherwise. Come. Sit down and let’s talk if you’re not in a hurry,” said Mindy as she took a seat off to the side.

Finding Mindy’s kindness refreshing, Blair acknowledged and took a seat in front of her, plopping down on the cushions after taking off her backpack. “Thanks. I guess I sorta have something on my mind,” she said.

“Pleasure to help. That’s part of my job here at the LGBT Center. So, what’s got you troubled?” asked Mindy.

Blair fidgeted in her seat, making sure her words were phrased carefully. “Well… you see, my best friend is headed home for the weekend so I’m left here by myself. I was hoping we could have some fun together over the break, but it seems like that’s not going to happen,” she said.

Mindy furrowed her brow, wondering where the conversation was headed. “Fun as in hanging out or fun as in…,” she said, trailing off towards the end.

Blair took a moment to get what she meant then shook her head embarrassingly. “Nothing like that! I mean, like, hanging out types of fun,” she said.

“Oh, is she also your… girlfriend?” asked Mindy, relieved that the conversation wasn’t going down the path she thought it was.

Blair blushed but tried to hide it. “No! I mean, she’s not like that. We’re just friends. Just. Friends,” she said.

Mindy snickered at Blair’s anxiousness. “But you do like her, don’t you?” she said.

That only made Blair blush harder as she tried to stop thinking about Roxanne. “Yeah, so? So what if her eyes are the most beautiful I’ve ever seen and that her bookworm nerdiness has me all hot and bothered? We’re just friends and I’m not even sure if she’s into girls or not,” she said.

“So it’s like that, huh? Well, I’ve had my heart broken by a straight girl once. It was one of the worst periods of my life, so I hope you don’t make the same mistake I did by falling for a straighty as well,” said Mindy, placing a hand on Blair’s shoulder.

Blair gulped, fearing that she would experience the same rejection if Roxanne were to be heterosexual. “What should I do?” she asked.

Mindy heaved a sigh and crossed a leg over the other. “Nothing. Absolutely nothing. When the times comes, you’ll find out whether she’s straight or gay and when that happens, you’ll know what to do. In the meantime, keep doing what you’re doing, but nothing more. Your friendship should be your sole aim and that’s it. If you try and make that something more without knowing full well which way your friend swings, you’ll just end up hurting yourself more in the long run,” she said.

“So should I just… ask her?” asked Blair.

“To be honest, I wouldn’t. It could offend her and if she’s really against the idea of having a friend who’s got the hots for her. You might just lose her. I think it would be best just to keep your feelings hidden until the time is right, and unfortunately, if things don’t turn out the way you hope, she wouldn’t be the wiser and you two could at least remain friends,” said Mindy.

Blair just sat there, taking it all in as she contemplated her thoughts. “I guess…,” she said.

Mindy saw the discouraged look on Blair’s face and leaned closer, taking one of her hands in hers. “But hey, it’s not the end of the world, right? You still have a chance, so don’t give up, okay?” she said.

Blair cracked a smile and nodded, keeping her emotions at bay. “Yeah. Thanks, Mindy. I feel better already,” she said.

“Good. Now if there’s anything else you need, I’ll be on campus as well during the break. Give me a call if you want to talk more,” said Mindy as she got up.

“I will. Thanks again,” said Blair as she picked up her backpack. As Mindy went back to work pinning up flyers on the board, Blair headed back to her dorm room.

When Blair got back, she didn’t bother knocking and barged right in, sighing with relief as she set her bag down. Fortunately for her, her roommate had already left for home and wouldn’t be back until Monday morning. Seeing she had the room to herself, Blair went over to her laptop and began playing some music on high volume. The beats of punk rock echoed through the room, a remnant of her gothic/punk phase in high school. Now that her plans were down the drain, she sat behind her desk, contemplating how she wanted to spend her weekend alone.

After a few minutes of surfing the net, checking emails, and scrolling down her Facebook wall, she heard a knock at her door which made her jump in her seat. She wasn’t expecting company and her roommate never had friends come by, if she even had friends. Blair got up and answered the door, expecting to see her RA or someone else, but to her surprise, a friendly face stood before her. “Oh! Roxanne. What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be going home?” asked Blair after opening the door fully.

Roxanne shook her head and smiled. “Well, I did some thinking and… I guess it would do me some good to relax and take the weekend off,” she said.

“Huh? But didn’t you say your family wanted to see you and such?” asked Blair.

“Oh, don’t worry about them. The real reason they want me back is to do chores around the house and stuff like that. So I simply told them I had some school work to do and they wouldn’t dare get in the way of my studies. Now I get to hang with you all weekend. I hope you still have the plans you came up with earlier,” said Roxanne as she stood in the doorway.

Blair was too overjoyed to speak and her face was frozen in a giddy grin. Unable to contain herself, she just embraced Roxanne in a hug and said, “I’m so glad you decided to stay! I was afraid my break was going to be spent lazing around in my room, snacking on Doritos and watching yuri animes.”

“Well we woudn’t want you doing that now, would we?” said Roxanne with a smile as Blair continued to latch on to her.

After the hug began to get too long and awkward, Blair stepped back and placed her hands on her hips. “Come on in. Have a seat. My roommate is out for the weekend, so don’t worry about taking her chair,” she said, moving out of the way and motioning her in.

“Uh huh. Sure. So how are you and, uh… what’s her name doing?” asked Roxanne as she stepped in, closing the door behind her.

“Pfft, you mean my roommate, Marie? She’s her usual stick-in-the-mud self,” said Blair with much discontent.

“Do you even, like, talk to her?” asked Roxanne, pulling over Marie’s desk chair and taking a seat.

“What is there to talk about? All she does is sit at her desk staring at her computer. And if she’s not doing homework, she’s reading some geeky forum site or looking at who knows what. Honestly, she creeps me out and the less interaction with her, the better,” said Blair. She then whisked a hand through her hair and sat down in her own chair, scooting it closer to Roxanne. “So what’s up with your roommate? Like she’s any better…”

Roxanne groaned, rolling her eyes with disdain. “Urgh! Don’t even get me started with that annoying, infuriating redneck!” she said before regaining her composure.

“Whoa! Such language!” said Blair with a mocking gasp.

Roxanne scoffed at her, glancing away with a whip of her bangs. “Pardon the rudeness but she really does get under my skin. You don’t even know the half of it. She comes home late at night, waking me up on PT nights. She always reeks of smoke and keeps her side of the room in a constant pigsty! It’s unbearable, and if I don’t get a good night’s sleep, I’m going to go insane!” she said. She was starting to lose her composure again and promptly calmed down, clearing her throat. “But don’t worry about me; I’ll figure something out.”

“Uh huh, well, if you need me to straighten her out, just let me know,” said Blair with a smile. “I have no qualms beating some decency into her if it’ll help you out.”

“Thanks, Blair. But I don’t think that’ll be necessary,” said Roxanne with a chuckle, glancing around the room. As she did, her gaze stumbled upon a futon situated underneath Blair’s bed, which was raised up to give her extra room. She got up from her seat and waltzed over to it, skimming a hand along the surface. “Is this… yours?” she asked, not having been inside Blair’s room before.

Seeing Roxanne inspecting her futon, Blair got up and went over to her. “Yeah. Pretty slick, huh? Fits perfectly under my bed, and I can even change it into another bed if I get too lazy to climb up to take a nap,” she said, sitting down on one side of it.

“I see…,” said Roxanne as she contemplated her thoughts. “Actually, I think there’s another way you can help me out.” She took a seat beside Blair on the futon, turning to face her.

“Oh? And what might that be?” asked Blair.

Roxanne glanced down at her lap as she hesitated to speak. “Well, since your roommate is away, and the fact that you’re such a really really good friend…,” she said.

Blair rolled her eyes and gave her a smirk, partially curious as to what Roxanne wanted of her. “Just come out with it already. Let me guess: you want to stay here for the weekend, right?” she said, , figuring that was what Roxanne was going to say, and even if it wasn’t, she wanted to implant the idea in her head to make her consider it.

Roxanne had a surprised look on her face as she reeled from the correct guess. “Uh- Uh, yeah. Spot on. That’s exactly what I was going to ask… I mean, if it’s okay with you and all,” she said, a hint of apprehension in her voice.

Satisfied with her correct assumption, Blair patted Roxanne on the shoulder with a hearty slap. “Of course it’s okay! We’re like, best friends and shit. Mi casa is your casa. We can have a super long sleepover and watch movies, eat snacks, and…” she said before pausing, seeing Roxanne’s hesitant look. She then sighed and glanced away. “I guess we can add some studying in there as well. Sheesh. You don’t have to give me that look.”

Roxanne smiled as well and gave Blair a warm hug. “Thank you so much, Blair. You have no idea how much I’ve been wanting to get a good night’s sleep. And I’d love to do all that with you, so long as we don’t stay up too late with our shenanigans,” she said.

Caught off guard by the sudden show of affection, Blair was breathless as she felt Roxanne’s body pressed against her. Being that close, she happened to inhale a bit of her scent, a mixture of her natural smell and her scented lotion. She let out a slight whimper of pleasure as her chin rested on Roxanne’s shoulder, savoring the moment. “No problem, Rox,” said Blair, bringing a hand around and awkwardly patting Roxanne on the back.

Not before long, Roxanne broke the embrace and withdrew, content and satisfied with her new temporary living arrangements. “Splendid. Let me run back to my place to pack a few things. I shouldn’t be too long,” she said, getting up from the futon.

Blair got up as well, walking with her to the door as she shook off the blissful embrace from before. “Uh, want me to come with you?” she asked.

“No, that’s okay. I won’t be bringing much. I’ll just pack some personal items and such. I’ll be right back,” said Roxanne, hardly unable to contain her delight as she left the room.

As Blair found herself alone, she turned around and grimaced at how everything looked. While her roommate’s side of the room was spotless and well organized, hers was messy and in complete disarray. There were dirty clothes lying around the floor, not to mention a few pieces of lingerie clearly visible. She blushed as she failed to hide them while Roxanne was in and went about tidying up the place. She picked up her dirty clothes and stashed them away in her laundry bag. She then threw away any loose trash lying about and vacuumed the floor, taking care to make sure the rug was free of any grit or debris. As she was finishing up the final touches, there was a knock on the door. “Keep it together, Blair. It’s only a sleepover. Just… a friendly sleepover,” she said to herself. Making her way over to the door, she opened it up and saw Roxanne there, carrying her backpack and an overnight bag.

“I was so glad to be walking out my door just now. My idiotic roommate had her country music blaring and she was partying with her stupid friends. Ooo, she just infuriates me to no end!” said Roxanne as she stepped in to Blair’s room. “I had to make sure all my valuables were locked up and everything put safely away. There’s no telling what her and her mates are up to.”

“Well, you’re here now, so you don’t have to worry about them anymore,” said Blair as she closed the door.

Roxanne looked around the room and gave an approving nod. “Seems like you tidied up the place,” she said as she continued in. “And oh look! You even prepared the futon for me! How sweet.”

Blair rubbed the back of her head, heading over to the futon. “Yeah, well. You know. Had to do something. Couldn’t just let you sleep on it without a pillow or blankets. And since I was having company, I couldn’t have the room in the sorry state it was in,” she said.

“Thanks for that. I brought a pillow and blanket just in case,” said Roxanne as she set her bags on the futon. She then slipped off her shoes and placed them by the door next to Blair’s. “So, since I’ll be staying on campus for the holiday, what were those plans you said you had in mind for us?” she asked, moving back over to the futon.

Blair grabbed a chair and pulled it over to her, using it to sit since there wasn’t any room on the futon. She rested her arms and head on the back of the seat as she sat on it backwards. “My plans? Sure. I’ve got tons of things in mind for us to do,” she said, an enthusiastic smile on her face.

After the two talked about what they wanted to do for the weekend, Roxanne mentioned that she still had some last minute work she needed to get done. Feeling hungry for a snack, Blair decided to go with her to get some ice cream while she worked. They grabbed their shoes and jackets and made their way out, walking together towards the library.

“So what do you need to work on?” asked Blair.

“Oh, nothing much. I just have a paper for my English class that needs to get finished,” said Roxanne.

“English, huh? 101?” asked Blair.

“Yeah. My numerous AP credits couldn’t knock the class out, I’m afraid,” said Roxanne.

“That sucks. Wish I had some APs under my belt, then maybe I could graduate faster,” said Blair with a chuckle.

“And why would you want to graduate faster? Wouldn’t you want to stay in college as long as you could, being the party girl you are?” asked Roxanne with smirk.

Blair smiled, having not thought about it that way. “That does sound tempting, but the thought of being an officer and flying jets around for a living is also just as cool, wouldn’t you say?”

“I suppose so, being a fly-girl like yourself. But if you leave early, who’d keep me company while I finish my degree?” asked Roxanne, turning her head towards Blair.

“Huh?” asked Blair as she turned to meet Roxanne’s gaze, unsure if she heard her correctly.

“I mean, we’ve been having so much fun these past few weeks. Though, we did get on the wrong bus when we went exploring around downtown that one weekend, and my first time to the movies could have gone… better, but I wouldn’t change a thing if I could,” said Roxanne.

Blair was glad that Roxanne was enjoying her company. “I suppose going to see The Rocky Horror Picture Show wasn’t the best choice of a movie to see, especially late on a PT night,” she said with a chuckle.

“But we made it to PT the next morning and got through it, so it wasn’t that bad,” said Roxanne. “It was an amusing film nonetheless, but maybe next time, I can pick the film?”

“Ha, yeah. Sure. You can do that,” said Blair as they entered the Brickyard.

The two of them reached the library and made their way inside, seeing that the building was rather empty. There were only a few students wandering around, sitting in the computer lounges or relaxing at the café. Blair followed Roxanne to her favorite place to work, one of the cubicles on the seventh floor which was situated in the back by the windows. It was a quiet location and offered them plenty of privacy to work in peace. As they rode the elevator up, Roxanne winced and waited apprehensively to get off, not trusting the old, rickety elevators. Once the doors opened, she was first to step off, leaving the steel box with a hastened step. From there, they hurried to her spot, wanting to claim it as her own before someone else did.

“C’mon… c’mon… yes! Got it,” said Roxanne in a hushed voice, minding anyone else who might have been studying nearby. She took off her backpack and took her seat before she began unpacking.

Before sitting down, Blair stood around a bit, feeling hungry for an icy treat. “Hey, do you want to get some ice cream before you start?” she asked.

Roxanne sighed, opening up her laptop once she got it plugged into an outlet. “You’re just asking me now, after having found my spot and getting everything up and running?” she asked.

Blair shrugged, her hands deep in her jacket’s pockets. “Better late than never, I suppose,” she said.

After getting her assignment pulled up on her computer, Roxanne paused for a moment and looked to Blair. “Unfortunately, I’m still a bit full from lunch, so that’d be a no from me. Sorry,” she said.

“Oh well. I’m going to get a scoop or two while you work. I’ve been itchin’ for some frozen goodness since we left my room,” said Blair as she began walking away.

“You coming back?” asked Roxanne, poking her head out of the cubicle.

“Of course. Right after I get it, I’ll eat it up here. Perhaps I can entice you with its sweetness and make you jealous,” said Blair, giving her a wink after she stopped to turn around towards her.

“Sure, jealous of you getting fat. If you don’t watch yourself, you’ll be gaining that freshman fifteen in no time,” said Roxanne with a chuckle.

“Yeah? Wanna know what I have to say to that?” asked Blair as she stopped once more.

Roxanne smiled, resting her head on her hand. “What?” she asked.

Blair scoffed at her then smirked, playfully giving her the finger as she disappeared around the corner. After getting her ice cream from the Creamery, an ice cream shop in the library that used milk gathered from MC State cows, she made her way back upstairs to Roxanne. As she took the first bite of each flavor, she mewled with delight as the elevator continued its way up. By the time she had returned to Roxanne’s cubicle, she had eaten a quarter of her ice cream already and half the whipped cream.

Seeing Blair approaching with ice cream in hand, Roxanne took a break from her work midsentence and looked to her. “So, whaddya get?” she asked, placing her hands on her hips as she raised an eyebrow.

After stuffing another spoonful of ice cream into her mouth, Blair responded with pleasure. “Got a scoop of peanut butter chocolate and one of strawberry. And of course whipped cream on top,” she said, her words slightly skewed by the frozen mouthful.

“Uh huh. Sounds delightful,” said Roxanne before returning to her work. After a few silent moments, besides the sounds of Blair happily enjoying her icy treat, Roxanne heard a sudden yelp of pain. She sighed heavily and didn’t bother looking towards the source of the sound as she continued working. “Brainfreeze?” she asked.

Blair winced at the pain in her forehead as she managed a nod. “…yeah,” she said finally.

Roxanne snickered as she focused on writing her paper. “…predictable,” she said with a smile.

As Blair finished off her ice cream while standing by Roxanne as she worked on her paper, she couldn’t help but look over her shoulder every now and then to see how she was doing. After she was done with her snack, she threw away her trash then pulled up a seat next to Roxanne’s cubicle, surfing on her smartphone while Roxanne finished up the final touches. She wanted to chat with Roxanne, but the more she distracted her, the longer it was going to take. So, to avoid spending more time in the library doing almost nothing, she bit her tongue, saving her topics of conversation for later.

As Blair was starting to get really jaded, a sudden movement from beside her attracted her attention. “Huh? What’s up, Roxanne?” she asked, stuffing her phone in her pocket.

With a satisfied grin, Roxanne saved her paper and closed her laptop. “I’m done. Finished my paper, and to my satisfaction I might add. Added in a few more sources to be safe and the length is way above the minimum. All’s good,” she said, turning to Blair.

“That’s good. I was starting to get fed up sitting here and saying nothing,” said Blair as she wiped her brow. “So wanna do something fun?”

Roxanne began packing up, unplugging her laptop from the wall and stashing it in its case. “Hmm… what did you have in mind?” she asked, stuffing everything back into her backpack.

Blair smirked, taking her phone back out and swiping her finger across it. “While you were working, I happened to stumble upon the campus’ movie theater website. Wanna catch a late night flick? It’s zombie classics night tonight,” she said.

“Zombie classics, huh? Guess you can’t go wrong with that,” said Roxanne as she stood up, slinging her bag over her shoulder. “What’s showing?”

“Uh, let’s see…,” said Blair as she tapped on her phone to get to the movie listings. “Here we go. Shaun of the Dead, Dawn of the Dead, and World War Z. And I’ll let you choose to make up for last time, though all three are pretty good to me,” she said.

Roxanne thought the choices over and promptly gave her decision. “World War Z sounds like a good one. Is that like set during WWII or something?” she asked, not quite familiar with any of the movies.

“Not really; it’s set in the two thousand teens, or somethin’. I’ve seen it before and I can vouch for it; it’s pretty good. If you want to know a brief overview, I can tell you all about it,” said Blair.

“Nah, if you say it’s good then I believe you. At least you’ve seen this one rather than the last time we saw a movie together, so I won’t ruin the surprise,” said Roxanne. “When’s the next showing?”

“Hmm… there’s one at 7:30 P.M. and then another at 10:00 P.M. Either one works for me, so I’ll let you decide,” said Blair.

Roxanne deliberated her options as she stood by the cubicle, but quickly came to a conclusion. “The 7:30 P.M. showing sounds good. We can eat dinner early then head on out to the theater. We’ve got an early morning tomorrow, so I don’t want to stay up too late,” she said.

“Yeah, I guess so. So what’s my bedtime, ‘mom’?” asked Blair as she stuck her tongue out playfully.

With a tired sigh, Roxanne rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “Listen, Blair. I’m not going to force you to go to bed when we get back right after the movie, but I want to be showered and in bed by 11:00 P.M. at the latest. I need my eight hours of sleep and if we plan to get up at 7:00 A.M., 11:00 P.M. is when I’ll be calling it a night,” she said.

Blair was irritated at first, usually not sleeping until midnight at the earliest on weekends, but nodded as she put her phone away. “Don’t worry, Roxanne. Whenever you go to sleep, so will I. I don’t want to wake you up by coming back late or by staying up in the room. Eleven sounds good,” she said.

Roxanne smiled sincerely, appreciative of Blair’s gesture. “Thank you, Blair. It means a lot to me that you take my needs into consideration and not just your own, unlike my dense and nauseating roommate…,” she said, her tone becoming more harsh and dark as she mentioned her roommate.

“That’s what friends are for, I guess,” said Blair.

“Mmmhmm. Soooo, what do you want to do in the meantime? I’ve finished all my work, so I’m free until dinner,” said Roxanne.

“Wanna play some COD? I’ve got two controllers,” said Blair with an enticing grin.

“…COD?” asked Roxanne.

Blair let out an exasperated sigh. “COD? You know- Call of Duty?” she said.

“Oh…,” said Roxanne as she just stood there, glaring at her as she mulled the suggestion over. “Sure! Haven’t played any video games since high school,” she said with a sudden smile.

“Really? I didn’t know you played,” said Blair as she placed her hands on her hips, raising an eyebrow with skepticism.

“Well, I wasn’t exactly studying ALL the time when I stayed late back in high school. I may have… visited the FPS Club on more than one occasion,” said Roxanne with a wink.

After hearing Roxanne had some gaming experience, Blair was hyped and energized to play some video games with her. “Dang, I gotta see this. Let’s hurry up and get back to my place so I can set up my console!” said Blair, grabbing Roxanne by the hand and hurrying to the elevator.

For the next few hours, the two of them played video games in Blair’s dorm, almost losing track of time as they played online against other players around the world. When it was time for dinner, they left her dorm and had a light meal at the dining hall closest to the movie theater. Blair wanted to make sure she had room for snacks during the movie, so she made sure not to overdo it at the buffet lines. After eating, they headed over to the movie theater, which was around a five minute walk from the dining hall they were eating at. It was early in the evening and it was starting to get dark. As usual, there were people still walking around campus, though it wasn’t as bustling since it was a holiday, which was nice. Blair enjoyed being with Roxanne and having the calm, serene surroundings added to the experience.

When they entered the theater, Blair headed straight for the snack bar to get some refreshments. The movies on campus were free for the students, so she didn’t have to worry about getting tickets.

“Hey, Roxanne, mind finding us a couple of seats while I get some stuff?” asked Blair as she stood in line.

“Sure. I can do that,” said Roxanne as she turned to head inside the theater.

Before her friend got too far from her, Blair turned her head and asked, “Want anything?”

“Nope. I’m fine. Thanks anyway,” said Roxanne as she kept walking, heading into the seating area.

“Suit yourself,” said Blair as she looked back to the snack bar, browsing the menu on the wall. After getting a snack and drink, she took them into the auditorium, searching for Roxanne amongst the rows of seats. She began walking down the side at a slow pace then caught glimpse of Roxanne from behind. The movie hadn’t started, so it was still bright enough to see clearly in the audience. Blair made her way over to her at a brisk walk, scooting into the row and sitting down beside her with a plop.

Seeing Blair beside her, Roxanne looked to her then back to the screen as advertisements continued to play. “So, what’d ya get?” she asked.

“Oh nothing much, just a box of my favorite movie-going candy, Buncha Crunch. And I also got a small, cherry Slurpee to wash it all down,” said Blair as she ripped open the top of her candy box.

The two of them sat around, watching the advertisements as they waited for the movie to begin. Students started coming in the closer it got to the start, filling about a fifth of the auditorium’s seats. When the lights started to dim, Blair knew the movie was about to begin and got comfy, occasionally looking over to make sure that Roxanne was okay as well. As the movie played, Blair couldn’t help but divert some of her attention towards the girl sitting beside her. At times, Roxanne’s hand migrated onto the armrest and Blair wanted to do the same, but made sure to keep her hand clear of hers. The last thing she wanted was to make Roxanne feel weird with an awkward hand touch. They enjoyed the film together, and at certain points, Roxanne gave in to her temptations and asked for some pieces of candy, which amused Blair. After the movie was done, Blair and Roxanne left the theater, thoroughly satisfied with the movie they had just watched.

“That wasn’t half bad. At least there weren’t any transvestites like the other movie we watched,” said Roxanne. “I enjoyed myself this time. Thanks for that.”

Blair snickered, nodding in agreement while throwing away her empty candy box and cup. “I’m glad you had fun. That Israeli chick was pretty cute, no?” she asked with a chuckle, smiling contently as everything went well this time

“Yeah- Wait, huh?” asked Roxanne, looking to Blair.

Realizing what she had just said, Blair tried to cover it up, not wanting to make things uncomfortable by acting too much like a lesbian. “Uh, I mean she’s pretty cool, like, I wouldn’t mind hanging out with her… or somethin’,” she said with an awkward smile.

“Uh huh. Let’s get back to your dorm before it gets any later. I wouldn’t mind taking a nice, hot shower before bed,” said Roxanne as she quickened her step a bit.

Blair gave a nod and kept pace with her, walking back to the dorm in the brisk, evening air. When they got back, Blair plopped down on the futon with her feet on it while Roxanne went over to her bags. “Ah, good to be back,” she said.

“You know, that’s where I’m going to be sleeping,” said Roxanne as she searched through her overnight bag.

“Oh, right. Sorry…,” said Blair as she sat upright, bringing her feet back over the side and on the ground. “So you’re going to take a shower here?” she asked, scooting closer to Roxanne and her bag.

“Of course. How else am I supposed to get clean before bed? Go back to my place and take one there?” said Roxanne as she took her bag and headed to the door. “I won’t be too long in there, so you can go once I’m done.”

“Okay. I’ll just chill until you’re done,” said Blair as she got up and went over to her desk, booting up her laptop.

While Roxanne freshened up, Blair decided to do some last minute research on the places they were going to visit the following morning. She barely even noticed the thirty minutes that had passed before Roxanne came back, dressed in her pajamas with her towel slung over her shoulder. Her hair was still a bit damp as she kicked off her flipflops, wearing pink pajama pants and a white tank-top. She then slipped on a pair of black ankle-socks and sat on the futon, rustling her hair more with the towel. Blair couldn’t help but look over the top of her computer at her, gazing upon her attractiveness as she gulped from the delightful sight. As Blair was fondling her friend with her eyes, Roxanne looked over which caused her gaze to dart back to the screen.

“Aren’t you going to take your shower now?” asked Roxanne, draping her towel around her neck.

Blair hid her face behind the screen, imagining that she was probably blushing a bit. “Uh, yeah. Just need to finish this up,” she said, trying to calm herself down. After a few moments, she got up and quickly retrieved her towel and toiletries before heading promptly into the bathroom. She decided to take her time in the shower, letting the hot water flow over her body as she tried to comprehend her situation. Spending, the night with her attractive best friend was quite the experience for her, despite sleeping in different spots. When she went back to her room, drying her hair with her towel, she was greeted with an awkward expression from Roxanne, who was sitting on the futon as Blair stood in the middle of the room.

“Hmm? What’s up?” asked Blair as she remained standing while rusting her hair. She then glanced down to where Roxanne was looking and noticed she was wearing only her panties, leaving her chest fully exposed. Immediately, she covered herself with her hands and arms, turning her back towards her as she began stammering. “Whoa! I- I’m just so used to- I was zoned out! I-” Blair hurriedly took the towel and wrapped it around herself, covering up her torso.

Roxanne was dumbfounded, slowly turning her head away with an embarrassed smile as her cheeks began to redden. “It’s cool. Don’t worry about it. I get it…,” she said.

Blair hurried and got the rest of her clothes on, slipping into a pair of black pajama shorts and a black t-shirt. Once she was dressed, and the embarrassed air settling, the two of them began talking again.

“So… yeah. About before…,” said Blair as she turned off her computer. “Like I was saying, I usually just wear my panties after my shower and- I kinda forgot you were here, so…” She struggled with her words, feeling more and more embarrassed by the second. Before she could continue, Roxanne raised her hand with a warm smile to calm her down.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s fine. I understand. It was just… unexpected,” said Roxanne, recalling what happened just a few moments ago. “It’s not like it was something I haven’t seen before, like, since we’re both girls and all…”

“Yeah, I guess,” said Blair as she got up and moved to her bunk, standing adjacent to Roxanne. “So we turnin’ in now?” she asked, trying to change the subject.

Roxanne exhaled and looked at her phone, seeing that it was just about their bedtime. “Yeah. Sorry again for making you turn in so early,” she said.

“It’s not a problem. I completely understand,” said Blair as she scratched the tip of her nose. “Got everything you need?”

“Yeah. Thanks again for letting me stay,” said Roxanne as she set her bag on the ground before making her bed on the futon.

“That’s good. Do ya mind getting the light?” asked Blair as she began climbing up onto her bunk.

After finishing with her blankets and pillows, Roxanne went over to the switch on the wall while Blair got situated on her bed. Once Blair gave the signal, Roxanne turned off the lights and went over to the futon, getting comfy as well.

“Goodnight,” said Blair as she wiggled under her covers.

Roxanne smiled, feeling at peace in the dark stillness of the quiet room. “You too,” she said, feeling confused and strange all of a sudden. The image of Blair standing in front of her, wearing nothing but her panties invoked certain emotions in her, though she didn’t quite understand why. She figured the feeling stemmed from the mere taboo of seeing a girl almost naked that way, so she promptly put the thought out of her head, hoping the emotions would go along with it.


	9. Revelations

_Ten years ago… in the year 2041…_

The weeks had gone by and it was already towards the end of Blair’s first semester in college. She had grown very close to Roxanne, the two of them becoming best of friends and doing almost everything together since they first met, ranging from their studies and ROTC to parties and campus social events. It was late Saturday evening and the two of them were wrapping up their study session in Roxanne’s room. They were preparing for their upcoming ROTC final in a couple days and Blair couldn’t pass up the opportunity to study with the top student in their class.

“Man, this test seems like it’s going to be a tough one,” said Blair. She was wearing casual civilian attire as she reclined in her chair, putting up her legs and crossing them on the desk.

Roxanne was sitting in the adjacent desk, putting her study materials away. “You serious? The captain gave us all the SOBs and the other cadets compiled a study guide using them. What’s so hard about that? We basically have all the answers right here,” she said, turning to Blair.

Blair scoffed at her, slipping her hands into her pants pockets as she stared at her computer. “It’s still a lot of stuff to memorize. So many lists and such,” she said.

“Don’t worry. After we finish up tomorrow, you’ll be completely ready for the exam,” said Roxanne with a smile.

“I guess,” said Blair. She then snickered and looked around the room, jealous of Roxanne’s new living arrangements. “I still can’t believe you have this place all to yourself. You’re so frickin’ lucky…”

“Yeah, well. It was only a matter of time before my roommate got caught doing drugs with her good-for-nothing boyfriend,” said Roxanne.

“Where did she get caught again?” asked Blair.

“A faculty bathroom. The idiots didn’t even realize it when they went in to smoke some drugs. I’m glad she got caught and expelled from the school. Now I have the entire room to myself,” said Roxanne, basking in the luxury of having all that space to live in.

“Pfft. What an idiot,” said Blair as she began rocking in her seat. Suddenly, the sound of thunder in the distance startled her, causing her to rock too hard and fall back in her chair. She was unable to stop the fall in time and struck the ground with a thump, hitting the back of her head against the floor. Fortunately, there was a rug there to cushion some of the blow.

After seeing her friend go down hard, Roxanne quickly got up from her seat to assist her. “Whoa! Blair, you okay?” she asked, crouching down to help her up.

Blair winced and cursed under her breath, rubbing the back of her head as she laid on the ground. “Ow… I’m fine. Just a little dizzy is all,” she said, still laying on the ground. She then heard the sound of thunder again in the distance and shuddered, promptly getting up and dusting herself off.

Seeing such a quick recovery, Roxanne stood up and went to inspect the damage. “Well, you’re not bleeding at least,” she said, feeling the back of Blair’s head and sighing with relief. “You should be okay. The rug saved you from a lot of hurt.”

Blair was feeling very uneasy as her eyes darted around, still shaking a bit. “Uh, it’s getting late, right? If there’s nothing else we need to do, I think I should be heading on back to my room,” she said.

“Huh? In this weather? Do you have an umbrella or rain jacket?” asked Roxanne, sitting back down at her desk.

“Uh… no. B- But don’t worry! I don’t want to overstay my welcome and all that. You know? And you like your sleep, so I’ll let you get to it,” said Blair as she hurriedly began packing her things from Roxanne’s old roommate’s desk.

Roxanne tilted her head, puzzled at Blair’s sudden change in demeanor. “What? You can’t possibly be thinking about walking all the way back to your dorm in these conditions. It’s cold, wet, and dark out. Maybe…,” she said, looking away momentarily and thinking her words over before continuing. “If you want, you can stay here for the night. I basically have two beds, even though they’re pushed together,” said Roxanne.

Blair paused for a moment, thinking the unexpected offer over. She stood by her desk until the sound of thunder getting louder prompted her to put her backpack on, getting it on with a single movement. “Uh, I don’t think that’s going to be a good idea. I don’t want to be a nuisance. I’ll just tough it out,” she said, starting for the door.

Before she could reach it, Roxanne grabbed Blair’s sleeve and stopped her. “Now just wait a minute. What kind of friend would I be if I allowed you to go out there like this? It’s practically storm conditions out there. You won’t be intruding, I promise. Just stay here for the night and when the rain calms down, and when it’s lighter out, then you go back,” she said.

Blair remained silent, contemplating her predicament as did Roxanne, the sound of heavy raining outside filling the room. “You must really want me to stay, huh?” asked Blair with a troubled smile.

Roxanne rolled her eyes and sneered at her. “Oh please. I’m just trying to give myself some peace of mind is all. If I let you go, and find out the next morning that some poor soul was mugged or assaulted around the same time you left, I’d never forgive myself. I know you think you can take on anyone, but as a precaution, I can’t let you go. You understand where I’m coming from, right?” said Roxanne, letting go of Blair’s jacket.

Blair continued to fidget, looking from the door to Roxanne and back again. She really didn’t want to be there when the thunder got closer, but how could she refuse Roxanne’s generous offer? With a heavy and prolonged sigh, Blair took off her backpack and set it down. “Got an extra pair of pajamas I can borrow?” she asked.

“Of course,” said Roxanne with a smile, pleased that her friend didn’t put up more of a fight.

After getting a pair of pajamas from her, Blair got changed while Roxanne washed up in her bathroom. Once they were ready for bed, Roxanne showed her where she’d be sleeping. Since Roxanne had the room to herself, she had pushed both bunks together to form a single bed. It was raised slightly also to allow for extra storage space underneath for drawers, so they still had to climb up, but at least it wasn’t as high as Blair’s bunk.

“Don’t tell me I’ll be sleeping up there with you,” said Blair as she followed Roxanne to the bed. She appeared to be skeptical even though she didn’t have a problem with it but in fact desired it.

“You got a problem? Unless you want to move all this furniture by yourself then this is what you got. It’s not like we’ll be cuddling or anything like that. We’ll have our backs to each other and if you’re really that uncomfortable with sharing the bed, we can put a pillow between us,” said Roxanne.

“Don’t worry about the pillow. I think we’ll be fine without it,” said Blair, quick to respond as she got up on the bed first. She crawled across the bed, claiming the spot next to the wall. “I mean, you know, since we’re chicks and such good friends and all.”

Roxanne smiled then turned off the room’s main light, following her up afterwards. The lamp on her bed frame still illuminated the room enough to see. “You can face the wall and I’ll face the edge of the bed,” she said, pausing midway up. “Need anything else?”

Blair shook her head, trying to get comfy under the sheets as she faced the wall. “I’m fine. And uh, thanks again for letting me stay with you,” she said softly, feeling stressed and excited at the same time.

“It’s no big deal. I’m sure you would’ve done the same for me,” said Roxanne with a smile.

Blair blushed, but since she was facing the wall, Roxanne didn’t see. “Yeah. Goodnight,” she said, feeling a bit more relaxed from having her friend so close.

“All right then. See you in the morning. Goodnight,” said Roxanne as she turned off the lamp after getting under the sheets as well. She lay on her side and rested her head on her pillow, facing the edge of the bed as she closed her eyes.

#

Roxanne tossed in bed, the sound of the rain outside much louder than before. She stirred as the hail of water on the roof and window continued to ring in her ears, though, there was another sound that made them twitch. Every time the sound of thunder boomed, she heard an almost shriek-like sound or hiccup from beside her. The constant bombardment of noise caused Roxanne to fully wake up, although slowly and still a bit drowsy.

“Huh? …what is that?” asked Roxanne, raising her head to look around the room. It was near pitch black out, so there was really no use trying to see what was causing the sounds. She remained still and noticed slight movements from beside her. Curious as to what was going on, Roxanne turned towards the source, finding Blair hiding under the blankets. “…Blair? Are you awake?” she asked in a whisper. She scooted closer and noticed that her friend was quivering underneath the sheets.

“Y- Yes…,” said Blair with a hushed tone.

Roxanne rubbed her eyes, still groggy from being awoken prematurely from her slumber. “Well, what are you doing?” she asked.

Blair remained silent for a few more moments, motionless until a streak of lightning flashed followed by a massive thunder boom sounding nearby. She shrieked out loud this time, cowering underneath the sheets as she gripped them closer to her body. “Just- Just forget about me. Go back to sleep,” she said, her voice muffled by the blankets.

With a dazed yawn, Roxanne blinked and tried to focus on the covered heap lying beside her. “I would love to, but besides the onslaught of the rain, I have a trembling body yelping next to me every time a tiny bit of thunder sounds,” she said.

“…shut up,” said Blair with a sneer, still cowering underneath the safety of her covers.

Roxanne was awfully cranky and grimaced at Blair who was still trembling in her spot as she sniffled and whimpered. “You mean to tell me that Badass Blair is afraid of a little thunder?” she asked, poking at her through the sheets.

Blair grasped her head with her hands and cried out. “I said- SHUT THE HELL UP!”

The sudden outburst from Blair sobered Roxanne up, making her fully alert and awake. She then realized the situation and how insensitive she was being, especially after studying phobias days before in her psychology class. “I’m- I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. Please, come on out at least. It’s not good to cover your head like that,” she said, moving a hand over to Blair. She was hesitant to reach out at first, and when she finally touched Blair’s shoulder, Blair cringed in her vulnerable state. “It’s all right, Blair,” said Roxanne.

After gently grasping the covers, Roxanne pulled them down, revealing Blair’s head and upper body. She was curled up in the fetal position, her back to Roxanne as she cried softly. Blair remained speechless, only letting out sobs of fright and the occasional hiccup. Another thunder rumble caused her to shudder severely; the thunderstorm was right on top of them, making the side-effects of lightning amplified in intensity. Roxanne began stroking Blair’s arm tenderly to calm her down. “Blair, there’s no need to be afraid. You do know what thunder is, right?” she asked.

Blair gritted her teeth and jerked away from Roxanne. “I know… you frickin’, sarcastic bitch,” she said.

Roxanne reeled from the remark, but after thinking about what she had said, she sneered at herself and shook her head. “Sorry. I didn’t mean for it to come out like that,” she said, smiling at Blair.

With her back still to Roxanne, Blair was about to say something until a sudden roar of thunder echoed above them. She shook with terror and cowered, talking hysterically. “I told you this was a bad idea! Now neither of us can get sleep and you’ll hate me for costing you sleep and the thunder won’t stop and-” Before Blair could continue blabbering, she suddenly felt a body press up against her back as an arm wrapped around her. The sudden warmth of another person momentarily calmed her down, putting her at ease as she tried to comprehend what was going on. “…Roxanne?” she asked.

“Just try and get some sleep, okay? We can talk more in the morning,” said Roxanne as she held Blair close. She had read about a similar method used to calm a person down who had astraphobia, but this was more improvisation than anything academic.

The feeling of Roxanne holding her from behind put Blair at ease. Her heartbeat and breathing slowed down as the tears ceased rolling down her cheeks. Blair nodded and closed her eyes, focusing on nothing other than the feeling of Roxanne’s body pushed against her own. The softness of her chest, the gripping sensation of her arms wrapped around her torso, and the gentle feeling of her exhaling softly against the back of her neck, it was almost heavenly to her. For the first time since they went to bed, she was finally able to smile as she drifted off to sleep, safe in her friend’s caring embrace.

#

Roxanne stirred as her natural body clock awoke her from her slumber. She remained still and slowly opened her eyes, only to come face to face with another girl in her bed. Startled, she opened them fully and backed away, wholly seeing a red-headed girl with traces of orange in her hair sleeping soundly beside her. After getting a grip on herself, she recalled the events from last night and exhaled quietly, relieved that Blair managed to get some sleep after all. Before getting out of bed, something about Blair caught her eye so she took a moment to watch her sleep. Roxanne felt a pleasant warmth inside her due to having Blair so serenely situated next to her. She shook her head, trying to rid her head of silly thoughts and pointless fantasy. Her mind was just distracted with such things in order to avoid thinking about work, so she had to focus. There was still much to do before the exam the next day. She decided to let Blair sleep a bit longer while she got ready, carefully getting out of bed without waking her friend and making her way into the bathroom.

When Blair finally awoke, she was off put by being in such a large bed and wearing clothes not familiar to her. The shirt was a bit loose which wasn’t normal, but fortunately she liked loose clothing. The pants, on the other hand, were a bit tighter, but not too tight. She finally remembered where she was and looked around for her friend. “Roxanne?” she managed to say, although with a raspy voice.

Hearing her guest’s voice, Roxanne turned around and looked up at her. “Down here,” she said.

Blair pulled herself to the edge of the bed and looked down, seeing Roxanne sitting at her desk, already dressed and washed up. “Are you okay?” she asked, rubbing her eyes before moving her bangs out of the way with a whisk of her hand.

Roxanne snickered, giving her a friendly smile. “I was about to ask you the same thing,” she said.

Seeing that Roxanne was in such good spirits, Blair was able to relax. “I’m… fine. I’m doing all right, thanks to you. I- I… really appreciate what you did for me last night. I had a feeling I was going to freak out once the thunder got closer to us, so… yeah. That was so uncool of me. I’m sorry,” said Blair. She began feeling gloomy and moped, staring blankly ahead of her as she rested her head on her hands.

“It’s perfectly understandable. We all have fears with varying degrees of magnitude. If anything, I should be the one apologizing for being such a grumpy, erhem, ‘bitch’ about it,” said Roxanne with a chuckle.

Blair smiled as well, finding it amusing every time Roxanne cursed. “I forgive you. Being deathly afraid of thunder isn’t exactly something a normal person has to deal with, so I’m glad you were there for me. It felt… nice,” she said.

“I’m glad you thought so. We studied about several phobias in my psychology class and how to deal with them. I’m just relieved I was able to help and apply what I learned,” said Roxanne as she stood up, stepping towards the bed. “Take all the time you need, then we can have breakfast together before continuing with our studying.”

“That sounds nice. I won’t be too long. I’ll give you a call once I’m ready,” said Blair as she carefully climbed down off the bunk. She quickly undressed, taking off the loaned pajamas right there and then and changing back into her clothes from yesterday. Once she was ready, Blair gave Roxanne a friendly smile, heading out into the bright and clear morning back to her room.

After they were both ready for the day, Blair and Roxanne met up at Clark, the closest dining hall to their dorms. They grabbed their meals and sat together at a table just big enough for the two of them. Blair decided to get a Belgian waffle accented with strawberry preserves and a generous heaping of whipped topping. Roxanne, alternatively, got a healthier meal consisting of fresh fruit and a bagel with a light helping of cream cheese. Once they were settled in at their table, they picked up from where they had left off in Roxanne’s room.

“So, were you able to sleep well?” asked Roxanne, skewering a piece of watermelon with her fork.

“Yeah. Surprisingly, right after you… um, you know…,” said Blair, flustered as she began recounting the feeling of Roxanne against her the night before.

Roxanne started to get red around the cheeks as well, finding in hindsight what they did to be a bit more intimate than she thought. “I hope you’re not too… uh, disturbed about it. I mean, the whole… ‘cuddling’ thing. I only did it to calm you down enough so you could sleep,” she said.

“Um, uh, yeah. It was fine. I didn’t mind it at all,” said Blair, glancing away. She then snickered and looked back to Roxanne with a wily smirk. “And I thought you said we wouldn’t be doing that sort of thing, eh?”

Thinking back to what Roxanne said before when they were getting ready for bed, she chuckled as well, smiling warmly. “I suppose I did say that. Sorry for misleading you; twas not my intent to get that close to you,” she said, sticking her tongue out at her.

After feeling overwhelmingly self-conscious, Blair tried to divert the attention from her by deflecting the question right back to her. “How about you? Did you sleep okay?” she asked.

“Me? Oh I slept fine as well. I guess sleeping in that position was much more comfortable than I thought it would be,” said Roxanne, unphased by telling her the truth.

Hearing that remark made Blair blush even more. It seemed everything Roxanne said was making her feel all warm inside. She could barely get a hold of her words and responded with the only thing she could, a witty remark. “Ha, I guess you don’t spoon with your boyfriend often then, huh?” she said.

With a slight tilt of the head, Roxanne looked to Blair in a confused manner. “Boyfriend? What boyfriend?” she asked.

Blair quickly took a drink of her milk and got a hold of herself, wiping her mouth with a napkin before looking back to Roxanne. “You don’t have a boyfriend?” she asked, a bit surprised yet relieved.

Roxanne shook her head, seemingly not bothered by Blair’s assumption. “Nope,” she said.

“Oh. Well, ever had a boyfriend?” asked Blair, excited by the sudden change of topic.

Again, Roxanne shook her head, though not sadly or regrettably. “Never. No time to engage in a relationship, especially in high school. I was nearly in over my head with school and extracurricular activities, though, I didn’t mind it and I still don’t. Business comes first, then pleasure. I can start dating once I’ve graduated and gotten my career started,” she said.

“That sucks. So you’ve never experienced love before?” asked Blair, feeling sorry for Roxanne after hearing her lack of a relationship history.

“Well, I wouldn’t say that. I may have had my crushes and all, but that’s all they were, childish crushes. I eventually grew out of them and never looked back,” said Roxanne.

“I’m sorry to hear that. You’re such an awesome person. I bet you could have had anyone you wanted,” said Blair, her guard lowering by the second.

“Aw, that’s nice of you to say,” said Roxanne with a smile. “So how about you? Do you have a boyfriend? I’m sure you do, being the popular and athletic person you are.”

Blair scoffed, stuffing her hands in her pockets as she glanced away. “Nah. Pfft. I’m not into guys,” she said. Immediately after she said that, she froze, startled at the notion of potentially revealing herself to be a lesbian.

“Wait. What did you say?” asked Roxanne with a critical look, setting her utensils down while leaning closer.

Blair fidgeted in her seat as she began to panic. “Er, I mean- I’m not into… flies! I just hate it when a fly gets in your soup, am I right?” she said, smiling awkwardly as she tried to cover up her slip.

Unfortunately, Roxanne wasn’t buying it and crossed her arms, resting them on the table top. “No. You said you’re ‘not into guys’. So does that mean you like… girls?” she asked, remaining serious as all traces of cheerfulness from before dissipated.

When asked to confirm Roxanne’s suspicions, Blair remained silent, avoiding eye contact with her at all costs. She choked on her words and couldn’t utter a peep.

Without getting a reply from her, Roxanne pressed on as Blair stayed speechless. “You’re a lesbian, aren’t you?” she asked, eyeing her closely.

Finally, Blair managed to clear her throat enough for a single word. “…yeah,” she said, nodding her head slightly. She glanced over to Roxanne and met her gaze, but only for a moment before looking away.

Roxanne sighed, unsure of how to take in the news. “Well, this is uh… different. I’m not sure how I feel about this,” she said.

Blair began to worry, afraid for the future of their relationship. “Wh- Why would me being gay be any different than normal? I mean, I’m still the same old me,” she said.

“Yeah, but now that I know you’re attracted to females, it changes the whole dynamic of our relationship. Take last night for instance. I probably wouldn’t have been so physical had I known you fancied other women. I mean, who knows what could’ve happened,” said Roxanne, her tone apprehensive and concerned. She kept her unwavering gaze glued on her friend, a torrent of thoughts swimming in her head.

“Pfft. What do you mean by that? Just because you found out that I’m a lesbian, you think I… what? Would’ve done something to you? What the hell, man? We’re best friends! I would never do something like that to you!” said Blair, leaning forward as well as she met Roxanne’s vexed expression.

Roxanne exhaled deeply, rubbing her temples with her fingers as she closed her eyes. “Please don’t raise your voice at me, Blair. I wasn’t accusing you of anything, despite how my words may have sounded. I know we’re friends and all, so to alleviate your fears, yes, we can continue being friends. I…,” she said, sighing again before meeting Blair’s eyes. “I just need some time to think about our continued friendship and come up with some… boundaries or something. I don’t know. Everything’s different now that I know my best friend could possibly be attracted to me,” she said before eyeing Blair closely. “Are you… attracted to me?” she asked, her gaze unyielding.

Blair choked on her words, never having felt more apprehensive before in her life. “I- I- Rox, please, don’t do this…,” she said as she looked to Roxanne with a distraught look on her face.

The lack of a clear response confirmed Roxanne’s suspicions. “I see. Then this definitely changes things for us,” she said.

As the anxiety and stress began to build within Blair, she gritted her teeth and glanced away. “So I’m guessing you’re… straight?” she asked.

Roxanne took a moment to think it over, honestly not quite sure what she was. “At the moment, I suppose so, but…” She struggled to continue on and shook her head, dismissing the thought of possibly being gay. “Yes. I’m into guys and not girls.”

“Oh,” said Blair, her heart dying with every passing second. There was a brief moment of silence between the two as they tried to digest the conversation so far.

Suddenly, Roxanne broke the silence with a question. “…how long?” she asked.

Caught off guard, Blair broke out of her stupor and gulped. “How long what?” she asked.

“How long have you been, you know, a lesbian?” asked Roxanne.

Blair thought for a moment and recalled her first homosexual experience. “Since high school, so way before I met you,” she said.

“Then why? Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” asked Roxanne.

“I- I just…,” said Blair as she squirmed in her seat, the conversation taking its toll on her. “I liked you so I- I didn’t want to ruin what we had. Please… Please don’t be mad at me.”

Roxanne was having an equally hard time trying to keep calm, her mind racing at a million miles a second. “This is a lot to take in. I think it’ll be best that we take a break from seeing each other for a bit, just to clear our heads,” she said.

Upon hearing that, Blair began to get visibly upset as she struggled to contain her tears. “R- Roxanne… please, don’t…,” she said.

Unable to make her friend cry like that, Roxanne mustered up what cheerfulness she had left and put on a consoling smile, resting a hand on Blair’s. “Don’t worry, Blair. We’re still best of friends, the very best. I just need a few hours to collect myself. Don’t forget, we still have to finish studying for our exam tomorrow, right? So get your head straight as well and I’ll meet you at the library at four, okay?” she said.

Blair was suffering from mixed emotions and was only able to nod, wiping her tears away with her sleeve.

“Good. See you later,” said Roxanne as she got up. Before leaving, she gave Blair a pat on the back then left, leaving her friend to wallow in her sorrow by herself.


	10. Friends Forever

_Ten years ago… in the year 2041…_

The next day, Blair and Roxanne both met at the AFROTC classroom for their exam. Blair was barely able to get through the test, her mind and emotions in complete disarray. Roxanne, however, was better at hiding it as she sat in the classroom, but inside she was just as torn up as she tried to come to terms with several emotions of her own. After their final, Blair and Roxanne began seeing each other less and less, almost to the point of nearly avoiding one another. Over the next week, Blair tried to get her mind off of Roxanne and what happened between them.

Once Blair had gotten over the initial couple days of misery, she began reaching out to other people and socializing again. She started talking to other girls at the LGBT Center and even attended a party or two, just to get back into the groove of things. As time went on, she finally returned to her old, spritely self with the help of being around other people besides Roxanne.

It was the Friday of Dead Week, the last week of classes before final exams started. Having been around the LGBT Center, Blair found out about an upcoming event that she couldn’t possibly pass up. It was the anniversary of gay marriage becoming legal and its acceptance into everyday life, so a festival commemorating the event was taking place on the Fairgrounds.

In the early afternoon on the day of the event, Blair and a few others from the LGBT Center went to have some fun together and enjoyed the festivities it had to offer. They took a bus from campus to the Fairgrounds and quickly got their tickets. It was a bit crowded, but not overly so that it was a nuisance. At least the weather was nice; the sky was clear and the air wasn’t too chilly. Blair and her group of gals had just entered the fair proper and were deciding on where to go first.

“This looks like it’s going to be a great time, right?” asked Mindy as she walked alongside Blair.

“It does. I’m glad I was able to go with you gals,” said Blair, giving her a smile.

Mindy chuckled, returning the smile. “I’m glad that you’re finally able to enjoy yourself again,” she said.

“Hmm?” asked Blair.

“What I meant to say is that I’m glad you decided to come out and start being social again. I know what happened to you was rough, but things like that just happen. I’m proud of you for not letting it get you down and moving on. I’m here for you, we all are. So let’s enjoy this festival as a group of friends without worries, okay?” said Mindy, giving Blair a slight hug.

Blair patted Mindy on the back as they hugged, feeling a bit relived. “Thanks, Mindy. It’s nice to know I have other people who care about me and that I can rely on. You’re all such great friends,” said Blair.

For the first hour or so, they explored around the grounds near the entrance, walking from booth to booth. There, they played some simple fair games and listened to what some of the vendors were selling. One of the games the group tried out involved darts and balloons. The player was given three darts and had to pop a balloon to win a prize. Getting all three darts to pop a separate balloon won the player a bigger prize. Blair decided to give it a shot and got paid for one round.

“You’re going to try this one?” asked Mindy as she and the others followed Blair to the stand.

Blair gave her a smirk, taking one of the darts in hand. “Yeah. Lemme show you gals how it’s done,” she said before throwing the dart at a balloon. Unfortunately, her aim wasn’t true as the dart skimmed the side of a balloon and pushed it off to the side. Not helping her also was the fact that the balloons were only half filled so they’d be harder to pop. Undeterred, Blair took her second dart and hurled it at the wall only for it to miss a balloon completely and stick into the backboard. She started to get agitated as her second attempt ended in failure, though she was mistaken if she thought brute force and power was the correct way to play the game.

“Uh, I don’t think you’re doing it right,” said Mindy from beside Blair.

Blair grumbled and took the last dart in hand. “Oh really? Then what’s the right way?” she asked, turning to her.

Mindy looked to the dart then to the wall of balloons. “Try lobbing it at your target. Like, give it an arc,” she said, mimicking the motion Blair should attempt.

Unconvinced but without an alternative, Blair decide to give it a try. She did a few practice runs then finally let go of her dart in an awkward fashion. The dart tumbled in the air and hit a balloon using the back end opposite of the tip. The dart bounced off the balloon right back at Blair and hit her in the head, luckily with the fin part of the dart and not the sharp end. As soon as it happened, Mindy and the others stifled a laugh then commended Blair on a good try as a consolation prize. Blair rubbed her hear head and frowned, glancing to the game’s attendant who only shrugged embarrassingly as a sign that she didn’t win anything. Feeling a bit hungry, she then left the group to find a snack while they continued to play another game of darts and balloons.

“Where’re you off to in a hurry?” asked Mindy as she watched one of their friends toss a dart at the wall of balloons.

“I’m just going to grab snack very quickly. I’ll be back in a sec,” said Blair as she started heading off towards a nearby food stand.

“All right. We’ll still be here when you get back,” said Mindy as she turned to see her friend’s dart pop a balloon. They all cheered at their friends success as Blair huffed, walking away.

Blair decided to get a deep-fried chocolate bar, coated with powdered sugar. She got in line, which wasn’t too long, and gave the attendant there her order. After a brief moment of waiting, Blair had her treat and promptly paid for it. When she turned around to return to her friends, she accidentally bumped into someone. “Oh, sorry,” she said, almost dropping her delectable delight. As soon as she looked to see who it was, she blinked with a puzzled expression. “…Roxanne?”

Standing in front of her was Roxanne, equally as surprised as she wiped off the sugar from her shirt. “Uh, hi…,” she said with an embarrassed smile.

“Wh- What are you doing here?” asked Blair, moving off to the side with her so they weren’t in the way of other fair-goers. She wasn’t sure if she was supposed to feel either excited or abashed, so she just tried to keep herself as neutral as possible.

“Oh, well, I was kinda feeling like something unhealthy to complete the fair experience, so what better to do that than with something deep-fried?” said Roxanne.

Blair was still baffled, completely forgetting about the snack in her hand. “I mean, what are you doing here… at this fair… for gay people?” she asked.

Roxanne rolled her eyes, seeing that Blair hadn’t changed a bit in the short period they had been apart. “It’s not just for gay people. I’m pretty sure there are plenty of straight and other people here as well that want to celebrate the occasion.”

“Like you, I guess,” said Blair, feeling a bit dismayed from seeing Roxanne after so long.

Roxanne saw her distraught expression and placed a hand on her shoulder. “I- I wouldn’t exactly say that,” she said, smiling slightly.

“…huh?” asked Blair.

Roxanne knew this day was going to come sooner or later, yet she didn’t think it was going to happen like this. She motioned to Blair to follow her to a picnic table and sat down, hastily rehearsing her words in her head while Blair told her friends to continue on without her. After waving goodbye to them, she joined Roxanne at the table, setting her deep-fried chocolate bar on a napkin.

With a long sigh, Roxanne directed her attention to Blair, looking her in the eye. “Look, I know we haven’t exactly been on friendly terms these past couple weeks,” she said.

Blair pouted, resting her head on the table with a weary gaze. “Yeah… I know,” she said.

“After we last talked the morning after you stayed the night, I…,” said Roxanne before pausing, feeling restless as she forced herself to continue. “I began thinking.”

Still pouting, Blair took a bite of her snack which temporarily made her cringe with pleasure. As she chewed the first bite, savoring its taste, she glanced up at Roxanne. “…about what?” she asked.

Fidgeting in her seat, Roxanne glanced away as she bit her lip. “…about how I identify myself,” she said.

“Huh?” asked Blair, taking another bite of her deep-fried chocolate bar.

Roxanne exhaled greatly as she turned away, grimacing before looking back to her. “You’re such an idiot. You know, my sexual orientation?” she said.

Having Roxanne rephrase it, Blair then knew what she was talking about. “Oh,” she said then pausing, deducing what Roxanne was going to say next. “Roxanne… what are you saying?” she asked, ignoring her snack as she met her friend’s eyes.

“Well… after we talked about boyfriends and such, I began thinking about my future and… love in general,” said Roxanne.

Blair sat up and leaned forward a little, giving her utmost attention to her friend.

“You see, I wasn’t quite sure I believed it myself when I said I was straight and only into boys. But to tell you the truth, I’ve never really thought about what I am. I don’t mind guys, but… I also don’t mind girls as well. They’re the same to me in regards of attractiveness, so long as they’re a nice person. This is how it’s always been, as far back as I remember,” said Roxanne placing her hands on the table, one over the other, and glancing down at them. “But- after meeting you…”

Upon hearing her words, Blair perked up, listening more intently as she watched Roxanne speak from the heart. “Roxanne…,” she said, feeling a certain warmth resonate back in her chest.

Roxanne smiled and looked to her. “Since meeting you, I’ve sorta questioned whether I’m really straight or not. You’ve sorta swayed my disposition more towards one gender than the other. So after our little discussion, I began researching the whole lesbian thing. I’ve visited the LGBT Center and talked to the folks there. They seemed pretty nice and were willing to help me out. Then I heard about this festival and decided to check it out in order to learn more, and so far, I’m liking the gay atmosphere, not that it’s any different than a- well, normal atmosphere.”

“R- Really? So you’re… a lesbian?” asked Blair, suddenly feeling cheerful and rejuvenated.

Roxanne began to redden in the cheeks after seeing Blair so enthusiastic about the news. “Well… I don’t know. It’s all so confusing still. I mean, I like girls as well, but… you know my predicament. It’s my parents. They don’t know about my ‘dilemma’, and so I bet they expect me to find a nice young man, and get married, and have kids, etcetera,” she said with a sigh a she began to sulk.

“Parents? Pfft, c’mon, Roxanne. You’re a college girl. Have some balls and start doing things for yourself! Do what you want for crying out loud. Who cares if you start liking girls? Just do what makes you feel good. That’s what I do and I don’t regret a thing,” said Blair.

“It’s not that easy, Blair,” said Roxanne, giving her a stern look. “I owe it to them to carry out their wishes. I just can’t turn my back on them, declaring that I like girls and don’t want to get married to a man. It isn’t right.” She groaned with frustration, agitated by the conflict within her. She began massaging her temples after getting a headache from the stress.

Blair saw that she was frustrated and reached out, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Hey, it’s all right. I get where you’re coming from. It’s not my place to judge or tell you how you live your life,” she said, scooting closer and rubbing Roxanne’s arm slightly. “How about this? You and I enjoy the rest of the festival together as friends, you know, to get your mind off of whatever is bothering you. Then afterwards, I can help you sort things out, okay?”

After taking a moment to collect herself and think about her current situation, Roxanne opened her eyes and looked to Blair, her headache starting to subside. “You know, you’re a good friend, Blair. I really appreciate it,” she said with a frail smile.

“Heh, that’s what friends are for. Am I right?” said Blair with a smirk.

“Yeah. And I don’t want to ruin your time here as well with my drama. I’ll just suck it up and deal with it at a more appropriate time,” said Roxanne, feeling much better that she didn’t have to tackle her problems alone.

“You have four or so years to deal with it. You shouldn’t have to waste your college years worrying about it. While you’re here with me, you should have fun. Enjoy your youth and just live your life how you please, and-” Blair paused, seeing Roxanne looking at her with a bothered look. “Ah, I’m preaching again, aren’t I? Sorry.”

With a sigh, Roxanne shook her head and smiled. “It’s all right. I actually agree with you on this. I just… need time to figure things out. But like you said, I’ve got some time and I won’t have to do it alone,” she said.

Blair cracked a smile, her eyes locked on Roxanne’s. “It’s good to see you again, Roxanne,” she said.

Roxanne playfully scoffed at her then stood up, looking down at her. “Hey, just because I may be a lesbian now, don’t think you can start hitting on me, okay?” she said.

“Ha, wouldn’t dream of it,” said Blair as she got up as well, placing her hands in her pockets.

The two of them stood by the table for a few silent moments, glancing away from each other as they smiled timidly to themselves. Blair was ecstatic to hear the news, her confidence rejuvenated at the notion of having a chance with Roxanne. Meanwhile, Roxanne was feeling much more relieved that she didn’t have to keep pushing Blair away, accepting the fact that she could indeed be a lesbian as well and attracted to other women. It felt nice, almost freeing to know what she wanted and she had Blair to thank for that.

After snapping out of her daydream, Blair looked to Roxanne and picked up her half-eaten deep-fried chocolate bar. “So, where to first… best friend?” she asked.

“Lead the way. I’ll go wherever you go,” said Roxanne, waltzing up next to her.

Blair was feeling particularly pleased to be with Roxanne again, almost feeling light-headed from the pleasant feelings. She then looked down to Roxanne’s hand and reached out, tenderly grasping it.

Feeling Blair’s affectionate touch, Roxanne winced as she met her friend’s infatuated gaze. Her initial instinct was to pull away and scold her, but she didn’t. She couldn’t. It felt too innocent and lovely to ruin. Instead, Roxanne tightened her grip on Blair’s hand, giving her a smile as well as they began walking together, heading deeper into the festival.

As they walked along, Roxanne noticed Blair’s treat and asked, “Hey, mind if I get a bite of that?”

“Hmm?” asked Blair as she turned her head to Roxanne, still holding her hand affectionately.

“Your deep-fried whatever it is. Could I have a taste?” asked Roxanne.

Blair looked to her other hand and saw the morsel. “Oh, this? It’s a deep-friend chocolate bar. But I already took a bite and has my germs, so…,” she said, giving Roxanne a closer look.

Roxanne chuckled, eyeing the dessert. “Oh please. Germs? What do you think this is? Elementary school? I was going to get myself one of these things, but I’d rather just taste one instead. So c’mon, lemme have a bite? Please?” she said, giving her a playful pout which caused Blair to give in instantly.

“Fine. Here. You can finish it off if you want,” said Blair, handing the snack over.

Letting go of Blair’s hand, Roxanne took the chocolate bar and inspected it, seeing the powdered sugar and gooey center. She then saw where Blair had bit, noticing the teeth marks in the soft dough. She gulped, hesitantly picking it up from the paper tray with her hand. She had never shared food or drink with anyone before other than family, despite acting like she had just seconds before. Normally she wouldn’t have done this sort of thing, but this instance was different. The food belonged to Blair, her best friend. She trusted her and so with a hearty bite, she took a big chunk out of the bar, finishing off half of what remained. As she began chewing the piece, she mewled with delight, tasting the rich, chocolaty flavor and the warmth of the dough.

Seeing Roxanne enjoy the snack so much, Blair couldn’t help but blush since it was her snack to begin with. The thought of Roxanne biting where she bit, made her happy. It was like an indirect kiss, sort of speak, and that excited her. Even if her friend was a lesbian, she tried to contain her enjoyment, clearing her throat. Although she obviously wanted them to be more, she tried to keep up the charade of just being friends until Roxanne was ready.

“So… how is it?” asked Blair, watching Roxanne closely as she devoured her snack.

After swallowing the mouthful, Roxanne let out a content sigh. “It’s utterly amazing. I guess I understand why so many people love this stuff,” she said before taking another bite.

Blair grinned, carefully watching her as she ate. As they walked along through the festival, they decided to stop occasionally to play a game at a booth or get some free merchandise. The more they did together, the more Blair and Roxanne began to feel at ease with one another once more. It was just like old times, before they were worried about sexual orientation and were just good friends. Blair was finally able to laugh again and so was Roxanne, thoroughly enjoying each other’s company as they went around the grounds. As they were walking, they found themselves in the game zone where a majority of the fair games were located. Feeling lucky, Blair led Roxanne over to one of the booths and pulled out her wallet.

“What are you doing?” asked Roxanne as she stood with Blair in front of the booth.

Blair took out a five dollar bill and handed it to the attendant, receiving three baseballs in return. “I’m going to win you that big, fluffy flying horse-thing,” she said, pointing to a gray Pegasus with a red mane and glasses. “You know, since you like cuddling with things in bed…,” she said with a smirk and giving a wink at Roxanne.

Roxanne’s cheeks began to turn slightly red, crossing her arms as she snootily turned her head away. “Why must you bring that up? That’s kinda personal, you know…,” she said.

After rolling her eyes, Blair took one of the balls and prepared to throw it. “Pfft, whatever. But just watch and see. That horse-thing is as good as yours,” she said.

“You mean Pegasus,” said Roxanne.

“Huh?” asked Blair, halting her throw midway.

“It’s called a Pegasus. You know, the ‘flying horse-thing’? That’s what it’s called,” said Roxanne.

“Okay, Ms. Know-It-All,” said Blair as she prepared for her first attempt. She tossed the ball up and down in her hand, smiling smugly as she eyed the stack of bottles in front of her. She may have had bad luck with darts, but baseballs were a completely different story. With a hefty throw, she launched the ball forward, missing completely as it passed the stack of bottles by a foot.

As Blair huffed in disappointment, Roxanne started slow clapping, mocking her with false praise. “Very nice. If you keep throwing like that, maybe you can scare the bottles off the pedestal,” she said with a playful smile.

With a determined look, Blair didn’t mind Roxanne’s sarcastic comments and heaved the second ball, hitting the platform the bottles rested on. They jostled around a bit but remained standing defiantly. Before Roxanne could open her mouth to spit out another jest, Blair took the last ball and held her breath, taking a slight moment to aim before hurling it towards its target. The baseball hit home, striking all three bottles and knocking them to the floor.

With an elated shout of success, Blair clutched her hand into a fist. “Yes! Ha! Eat that, Rox!” she said, taking the stuffed animal from the booth attendant. Once she had it in her hands, she hugged it then looked to Roxanne. “Here. I did say I was going to win it for you,” said Blair, handing her the plush toy.

Roxanne took it, still a bit surprised that Blair managed to knock down the bottles with her last ball. “Oh, uh. Thanks. It’s really… nice,” she said as she inspected it. She then smiled as she held it under her arm, continuing on with Blair.

“It’s kinda cute. At first, I wanted it for myself, but then I was like ‘I’m sure Roxanne could use some cheering up’. So, I won it for you,” said Blair, walking alongside her to the point of almost touching shoulders.

“Oh, I see. It is pretty adorable and makes me smile. And since it’s from you, it’s extra special,” said Roxanne, turning her head towards Blair with a smile. “I think I’ll name her Brass, since it kinda reminds me of you, with the red hair and glasses and all.”

Blair smiled, patting the Pegasus on the head. “She is cute and does kinda look like me, don’t she? I just hope you don’t think about me when you cuddle with it in bed,” she said, turning to Roxanne and giving a playful smirk.

“Yeah, you would like that, wouldn’t you?” said Roxanne, giving her a sarcastic look.

Blair snickered a bit, looking forward to see what else was around them. For the rest of the afternoon and into the early evening, the two girls spent their time together playing games and overall having a good time. They bought some ride tickets and decided to go on a few, despite Roxanne believing they were too old to be riding fair rides. Blair insisted they go try at least the mini rollercoaster and chair swings, so how could Roxanne refuse. In-between rides, the two of them grabbed a snack or two as they walked through the crowded walkways, scoping out the next attraction to visit.

After the sun set and the temperature began getting cooler, they retired to a secluded spot on a grassy hill, looking up into the sky. They were surrounded by other couples and festival patrons, but their spot had ample room to be private enough. Blair and Roxanne were sitting beside each other on the ground, snacking from a shared paper bin of onion rings.

“Man, these are so good, aren’t they?” asked Blair as she reached in, taking a couple more onion rings and stuffing them into her mouth in a brazen fashion. She then wiped the crumbs and oily residue from her hands onto her jeans as if it were a napkin.

“Yes, they are,” said Roxanne as she used a napkin to hold a single onion ring, taking small bites from it in a lady-like manner.

Suddenly, the sky lit up with bright lights as fireworks began exploding in the distance above them. As the booms from the pyrotechnics echoed, Blair jerked slightly, startled by the suddenness of the explosions.

Roxanne noticed her uneasiness and patted her on the shoulder. “It’s all right. You’re with me, so you’ll be fine,” she said, giving her a calming smile.

Feeling the reassurance of Roxanne beside her, Blair was able to calm down and looked to the sky to enjoy the fireworks. As she reached down to grab another onion ring, she unexpectedly felt something warm and smooth instead of something gritty and oily. When she glanced down to see what it was, she saw her hand on top of Roxanne’s who also wanted another bite. Immediately, she withdrew hers and looked up to Roxanne. “Oh! Sorry,” she said with a bit of wavering in her voice.

Roxanne smiled, pulling back her hand as well. “It’s okay. You can have the last onion ring if you want. I’ve already had my share,” she said.

“Are you sure? I’ve had a lot too. And you did pay for most of it,” said Blair.

“Nah. It’s okay. I think I’ve had enough fried foods to last me for the rest of the year,” said Roxanne with a snicker.

“If you say so,” said Blair as she finished off the snack. She popped the last ring into her mouth, chewing it with delight as she took the bin between them and set it off to the side. The two sat together in an awkward silence, watching the fireworks as they began fidgeting in their spots. After swallowing, Blair sighed with relief as she leaned back, resting her hands on the ground to prop herself up.

Roxanne did the same and got more comfortable, stretching out her legs in front of her. Suddenly, their hands touched, each one turning to the other as the warmth drew their attention. Blair looked down and tried to pull away, but to her surprise, Roxanne kept her hand on top of hers. As their eyes met under the glow of the full moon and fireworks, they gulped with nervousness and desire. They remained gazing into one another’s eyes, not saying a word. Their heartbeats increased as they leaned closer to each other, not breaking their stares as the explosions continued to increase in tempo and splendor. The display and loud noises didn’t bother Blair as she knew what they were. The dazzling lights helped put her at ease.

Before the finale, there was a brief period of silence as their faces were only inches apart, their breaths felt on each other’s faces. As soon as it started, they locked lips in their first kiss, holding it as the finale took place. Blair reached up with one of her hands and caressed Roxanne’s cheek, not letting go until the last boom was heard. Afterwards, they broke away, panting as they let the feeling sink in while gazing back into each other’s eyes.

“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to taste your lips. Yours are the sweetest I’ve ever tasted,” said Blair, her heart still beating fast as the taste of Roxanne, mostly the onion rings though, lingered on her lips. She then gave her a warm smile, slightly flustered from the sudden kiss. The fireworks had ended and the air was quiet, save for the murmuring voices of the other visitors. As people began to leave the area, Blair and Roxanne stayed behind to savor the moment.

Roxanne was equally as flustered, blushing as she wondered what made her do such a thing. But she didn’t let such thoughts ruin the moment. She actually enjoyed it, every second of it and she wouldn’t have had it any other way. “That… was my first, kiss. Ever,” she said softly, an excited smile forming on her face.

“…how was it?” Blair asked, seeing Roxanne sitting before her.

Without warning, Roxanne lunged at Blair, wrapping her arms around her in a tight hug. As she held Blair close to her body, she kissed her passionately exhaling through her nose as she caressed Blair’s back. She put every ounce of her longing and desire into the kiss, years of solitude finally coming to an end because of her friend. Feeling a kiss that was unlike any other Blair had experienced before, she matched Roxanne’s intensity, releasing all of her affection and love for her as she kissed back.

After Roxanne had her fill, she withdrew, a thin strand of saliva connecting their lips before breaking away. “It was… amazing,” she said, licking her lips as she sat back.

Blair kept her eyes closed for a few moments longer, savoring the kiss as she remained motionless. After languishing in the pleasant feelings long enough, she slowly opened her eyes to see Roxanne smiling at her. She let out a deep sigh of content and sat back as well. “That was sublime. I hadn’t figured you’d the intimate type,” said Blair with a smirk.

“Well, hopefully you’ll get to see more of that side of me from here on out,” said Roxanne.

“Yeah, me too,” said Blair with another content sigh. “Wait, does this mean…”

Smirking, Roxanne gave a nod and took Blair’s hand in hers. “I mean, if that’s okay with you…,” she said.

Blair could hardly contain the excitement within her as she stifled the urge to shout out loud with glee. Instead, she hugged Roxanne close, nearly crying tears of joy as she embraced her friend. “I am… SO HAPPY! I’ll- I’ll be the best girlfriend for you! You won’t regret this!” she said, snuggling up close to her new girlfriend.

Roxanne smiled warmly, resting her head on Blair’s shoulder as she rubbed her back. “I know you will, Blair. And don’t worry. No matter what happens, I’ll… never regret this decision. The only thing I regret is not coming to this conclusion sooner,” she said.

As Blair continued to hug Roxanne close, a tear ran down her cheek. “Hey… Roxy?” she asked.

“Yeah?” asked Roxanne.

“…I love you.”

###

“Geez, save it for when you get back home why don’t ya?”

Blair broke away from the kiss and looked over to see Cunningham standing beside them, giving her a smirk. He shook his head before turning back to the night sky and focusing on the fireworks above the track.

“What are you doing here? Don’t you have better things to do than stalk me and Roxanne?” asked Blair as she held Roxanne around the waist.

Cunningham chuckled, not diverting his gaze away from the fireworks. “I was here first, actually, so in retrospect, I’d say you’re the ones stalking me,” he said.

“Pfft, whatever. You know what? I think I’ll just take your advice and continue our loving back at our apartment. What do you say, Roxy?” asked Blair, looking affectionately to the woman in her arms.

“I’m all yours, Love,” said Roxanne, giving her a wink.

Blair smiled and gave her a kiss on the cheek before turning to Cunningham afterwards. “Catch ya later, Hambone,” said Blair as she proceeded towards the exit with her girlfriend.

As they were leaving, Cunningham watched them walk away, taking particular interest in Blair as he smirked with a haughty scoff.

“Yo, Bro, you don’t actually… have a thing for that woman, do you?” asked Jan, one of Cunningham’s teammates who was standing beside him.

Cunningham continued to gaze upon Blair until she was out of sight, snickering to himself as he moved to find the rest of his team. “And what would give you that impression?” he said, sticking his hands in his pockets as he walked away, thoughts of Blair still fresh in his mind.


	11. Team Balisong vs. Team Skylark

During the weeks after the charity ball, Blair and the rest of Team Balisong continued their training under the tutelage of Lucia. The coach was pleased with the progress they were making. As their training came close to an end, she felt the team needed a final test before finally competing in the IG-1.

“Congratulations, Team. You managed to somehow make it to the end of the summer and survived my training. I’m so very proud of you all,” said Lucia with a content smile. The team had just finished their last day of exercises at the IGPX training facility. Lucia was situated in front of the briefing room, facing the pilots and other members of the team.

Blair yawned loudly, tired and sore from the day’s drills. “Does that mean we’re finally ready to take on Team Velshtein and the other IG-1 teams?” she asked.

Lucia smirked and focused on Blair. “Not quite, actually,” she said.

Upon hearing that, Shizune and Miharu groaned out loud as they flopped forward on their desks. “Really?” they asked together.

Even Roxanne was a bit discouraged as she tilted her head slightly. “Not ready? What else is there for you to teach us? We’ve learned just about every technique and formation you used in the IG-1. Do you have something new for us?” she asked.

“That’s a negative, Jack. Lucia and I have something else planned for you all,” said Sarah, stepping forward and standing next to Lucia. “Lucia has indeed taught you everything she can to prepare you for the upcoming event, but as you know, training can only carry you so far. You’ll need experience in addition to your training in order to be truly ready for what’s ahead,” she said, pacing in front of the room as she kept her eyes on the pilots, her hands held behind her.

Blair perked up in her seat as Sarah began to address them, something her superior’s voice always did since they first met. “Well, we’re not totally lacking in that, ma’am. So what kind of experience are you talking about?” she asked.

Sarah smirked, glancing to Lucia who gave her a nod. “Come on in, ladies,” said Sarah, looking to the door.

Seeing Sarah talking to someone outside, Blair and the rest of the team turned their attention to the entrance and waited for the mysterious guests to enter. Blair was especially curious since Sarah addressed them as “ladies” and wondered who they could possibly be. Suddenly, the sound of a girly, French accent rang in her ears which made her smirk, finally being able to see who it was that came in.

“My my… the witch is playing with the big boys now? How does it feel to replace us in the IG-1 as the all-female team?” Standing in front of the room was nineteen year-old Fantine Valjean, the captain of the then IG-2 team, Team Skylark. She playfully stuck her tongue out at Blair as her two teammates came in to join her. Along with Fantine, Team Skylark was also composed of Jessica Darlin and Elissa Doolittle, the latter acting as a mentor to the two younger pilots.

Sarah approached the other team and shook their hands one by one, as did Lucia. After taking care of the pleasantries, Sarah turned back to Blair and the others, explaining what they were doing there. “Lucia and I decided it would be best for you all to apply what you’ve learned so far. We arranged an exhibition race to test your mettle. Team Skylark graciously agreed to be your opponents, being a former IG-1 team and all,” said Sarah.

“Skylark, huh? This should be fun,” said Blair, reclining in her seat as she looked to Fantine. “And it feels great to be the new all-female IG-1 team. Someone had to fill the void left by you losers.” She returned Fantine’s playful gesture with one of her own, giving her the trademark Japanese “eye and tongue” expression.

Lucia shook her head and continued on with business. “Indeed. Team Balisong and Team Skylark will face off in a standard three-lap race around the practice track. Same rules apply and let’s keep it civil, okay, ladies?” she said, looking to both teams.

Fantine turned on a heel towards Lucia, bowing slightly. “Don’t worry, Madame Cloverson. The pilots of Team Skylark would never do anything to tarnish our name, especially in the presence of such an esteemed pilot such as yourself, ma’am. We’ll do our best to give Madame Casing and the rest of your team a challenge, something to test their grit against as an IG-1 team, or rather, a former one,” she said.

Blair teasingly mocked her as she spoke, making mouthing motions with her hand. “Well that makes two of us, ma’am. We’ll do our best against these has-beens and take no prisoners. Your hard work won’t be for nothing! We’ll mop the floor with these gals!” she said, riling up her team in the process. Roxanne gave an approving nod, smiling as she looked to her. The twins were grinning too, sticking their tongues out as well at Fantine and her team.

Lucia smiled light-heartedly at her team’s enthusiasm, refreshed by their competitive nature. “Okay, enough with the big talk. Settle it all on the track, you two. The race will begin in one hour. Use this time to make preparations to your bots and come up with a strategy. Blair, I’ll leave you to lead the team and make the calls. This is your final test, so neither I nor Sarah will be helping you out. We’ll be on the observation deck with Team Skylark if you have any questions,” she said, motioning to Maggie to wheel her out. She left the room along with Sarah and headed to the observation deck to watch the race. Once she was gone, Blair and her team got up to say hello to their opponents.

“It’s been awhile, hasn’t it, Fantine?” said Blair, approaching her and grasping her hand in a firm handshake.

“Yes, it has. When was the last time we saw each other? The Gearbox Tournament?” said Fantine, smiling as she shook Blair’s hand.

“That sounds about right. Dang, that was like... almost a year ago? What have you been up to since then?” asked Blair as Roxanne and the others mingled with the rest of Team Skylark.

Fantine sighed and folded her arms over her chest. “Haven’t been following the news? Team Skylark and I were racing in the French IG-2 Invitational event a few months ago. My mech suffered a major systems failure during our last race and has been out of commission since,” she said, looking to the ground.

“What’s the matter? Did your bot foolishly overheat again like when you fought that Takeshi kid?” asked Blair with a chuckle.

Some things never changed and Fantine knew Blair would never let her live that down. “No. I got that problem fixed right away after that race. Now can you stop bringing that up?” she asked, sighing in an annoyed fashion.

“Not a chance, Love Bird. That’s a rookie mistake me and my team will never make,” said Blair with a wink. “So if that’s not it, what happened?”

“Well, one of the parts I used to fix that problem was defective. During the last race, it cracked and caused everything else to fail, so… it pretty much ruined my bot. It took several weeks of repairs and a big bill to fix, but now it’s finally complete. I’m just as eager as you are to race, so I can finally get back into the pilot’s seat,” said Fantine, looking to Blair with a determined look.

“Maybe we can finally settle who the better all-female team is, huh?” said Blair.

Fantine smirked then glanced away. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you? But my team already beat yours during our first encounter last year, so you would think that qualifies us as the better team. Even if you do best us today, it’ll only even up the score,” she said, waving over to Roxanne and the others.

Blair scoffed, walking up beside Fantine. “Yeah yeah, but who cares about numbers. I think we have what it takes to beat you gals in a fair fight. The last time we raced, we were a rookie IG-2 team, but now, we’re a more refined IG-1 team,” she said.

“Oh, and is that supposed to scare me?” asked Fantine with a snicker.

Rolling her eyes, Blair playfully nudged Fantine’s arm. “Look at you, getting all sarcastic on me. And no, we all know you’re an awesome team, so we’ll play it real close to the chest. We’re not about to underestimate a former IG-1 team like mere amateurs,” she said.

“Well, I’m glad we see eye-to-eye. You won’t see us underestimating you and your team either, being an IG-1 team now,” said Fantine with a nod. “Speaking of which, have you met Takeshi or Cunningham lately?”

Blair let out an annoyed sigh, crossing her arms. “I saw Takeshi briefly at the Charity Ball, but never really talked to him. Cunningham, on the other hand- I’ve seen him plenty enough,” she said.

Fantine smirked, placing her hands in her pockets. “Did he give you his ‘respect’ speech after getting into the IG-1?” she asked.

“Urgh! Don’t even remind me of it. Yeah, he gave me it, but I shoved it right back in his face. How’d you know about that? Did he give you that speech when you first joined the IG-1?” asked Blair.

“Um, no. I actually heard it first from Maxine of Team White Snow during one of our chats. Apparently, he started doing it to all newcomers after Takeshi and Team Satomi showed up,” said Fantine.

Blair huffed and looked to Fantine. “Whatever. The guy doesn’t impress me,” she said.

“Nor I, but he does have a certain… charm to him, wouldn’t you say?” asked Fantine with a giggle.

Raising an eyebrow, Blair looked to her as if she had said something completely absurd. “Cunningham? Oh please. There is not a single ounce of him I find ‘charming’. Besides, I’ve got Roxanne, remember?” she said.

Fantine smiled as she and Blair looked to Roxanne, seeing her chatting with Elissa off to the side. “I almost forgot. You fancy women, don’t you? Maybe that’s why his charms seem to be ineffective on you,” she said.

Blair scoffed at the remark, giving her girlfriend a wave before turning back to Fantine. “No. He’s just an idiot,” she said with much disdain for the man. “What’s the matter? You starting to get a crush on him now that you and Tack or no longer dating?”

Even though she knew Blair was fibbing, Fantine couldn’t help but grimace. “Takeshi and I amicably went our separate ways. That was long ago. And no, I don’t have a ‘crush’ on Cunningham. I just think he’s an okay guy,” she said with a huff.

“All right all right. Geez. Chill out, gal. You’re starting to get uppity on me,” said Blair as she patted Fantine’s shoulder.

Fantine exhaled, getting a grip on herself. “You’re right. I’m fine,” she said as she whisked her bangs to the side with her hand. “I think it’s about time for my team and I to talk strategy, no? I’m sure you want to do the same with yours before we race.”

“Yeah. We should start doing that, though it’s not going to take much in order to take you down,” said Blair with a wink.

“Sure. Keep telling yourself that,” said Fantine before heading over to the others and saying hello to the rest of Team Balisong. She then excused herself and left with her teammates to head towards their hangar.

Once they were gone, Roxanne and the Anko Twins came up to Blair. “So how’s Fantine doing?” asked Roxanne.

“She’s doing fine, but we can talk all about that after the race. Now we have to come up with a plan to take her and the rest of her team out,” said Blair with a confident smirk. Roxanne gave an approving nod as did the twins, huddling around their captain as they listened to what she had to say.

For the remainder of the hour, Blair and the team discussed their plan of action against Team Skylark. This was going to be the first race in their illustrious career where Blair had no guidance whatsoever from Sarah or their coach. She was completely independent and autonomous in her decision making, deliberating with her team on how they would tackle the race. After thoroughly going over their strategy and suiting up, the team went to their hangar to get their bots ready.

As Blair was conducting the pre-race start up procedures in her cockpit, she suddenly heard a voice in her helmet. “How’s it going, Blair? I’ve been observing Team Skylark and I have to say, I’m quite impressed. I’m sure you have a plan to take on these seasoned racers?” asked Lucia over the radio.

“Uh. Of course, ma’am! You won’t be disappointed. We’ll take them out, no problem,” said Blair as she fully brought her bot online. The engine roared to life as she checked the mech’s static motor functions, moving the bot’s fingers and wrists.

“Good to hear. Because I’ve tossed in a bit of a… surprise for you,” said Lucia with a slight chuckle in her voice.

“…a surprise?” asked Blair.

“Yes. To make things interesting, I’ve taken Shizune out of the race and replaced her with Roxanne. I hope you planned for a situation where the back-up pilot would be racing, so just be aware of the last minute change,” said Lucia.

Upon hearing the news, Blair tapped her helmet. “Roxy, you there?” she asked.

“Right here, Hon. I’m in Shizune’s mech and starting it up now. Glad I got hers instead of Miharu’s; it’s more my style,” said Roxanne over the radio. “Ah, no offense to you, Miharu.”

“It’s cool, Rox. Besides, I wouldn’t want you messin’ up my bot anyway,” said Miharu with a playful wink.

“See? Now, like I said earlier, Sarah and I will be staying out of the race. We won’t be coaching you but instead just observing. But don’t worry. We have faith in you,” said Lucia.

Blair smiled, satisfied by Lucia’s reassurance and that Roxanne would be racing with her. “Thank you, ma’am. We won’t let you down,” she said.

“Glad to hear. Now get your game face on. You’re clear for launch,” said Sarah over the radio. She was situated on the observation deck along with Lucia and the rest of Team Skylark.

“Roger that, ma’am. Brass, heading out,” said Blair as the hangar’s safety lights turned green. Her bot left the maintenance cradle and began taking steps towards the elevator, her teammates following close behind.

Already on the track was Team Skylark, waiting after having taken their places on the starting grid. Fantine’s bot was fully repaired and glistening in the sunlight as her new armor plating shone brightly. Seeing Blair and her team approach, the head on Fantine’s bot’s turned towards them. “Good of you to join us,” said Fantine over the radio.

Blair and her team approached the starting grid and took their positions. “Yeah, I’ll be saying the same thing to you at the finish line,” said Blair, using her mech to give Fantine a playful salute.

Once everyone was in place, Lucia addressed the pilots. “All right, everyone! Keep it clean and have fun!” she said as she began the countdown.

Blair focused on the lights, waiting for it to flash green as she gripped her bot’s controls. Roxanne was equally as focused, determined after having not raced against other pilots in a while. She had to keep her edge or else she’d grow rusty, and as the team’s last resort, she couldn’t afford to fail them. Besides, she was finally able to race with Blair again, and she always enjoyed being by her side.

Miharu, on the other hand, was a bit less enthused since her sister got replaced on a whim. The team’s dynamic wasn’t going to be as fluid as it normally would be with Shizune on the sidelines. But she couldn’t doubt her team, not now, she thought. Roxanne and Blair made a good pair and worked well together, so she had nothing to worry about. Everything was going to be fine. Miharu exhaled and grasped her mech’s controls, smiling slightly as she looked to the observation deck where her sister was watching from.

Sensing her twin looking at her, Shizune reached for a headset to wish her sister good luck. “You’ll be fine, Mimi. This isn’t the first time you’ve raced without me, so just keep a cool head. You hear?” she said.

“Got it. Just wish you were here is all,” said Miharu before focusing back on the flashing lights on the countdown. “Not that I don’t appreciate your company as well, Rox.”

“It’s okay; I know what you mean,” said Roxanne with a reassuring tone. “But don’t worry. I won’t let you down.”

As the two teams poised their hands on the controls of their bots, the indicator light on the countdown finally flashed green. And with that, the six mechanical racing machines accelerated off the starting grid and barreled down the track.

“All right, team. Form up! Single column!” said Blair over the radio as she took the head position of the group. Roxanne and Miharu acknowledged and formed a single-file line behind Blair with Miharu in the middle and Roxanne picking up the rear. As her team got into formation, Blair looked over to her right to see Fantine and her team copying her. Fantine was at the lead with Jessica behind her and Elissa at the tail end. Blair sneered at her then got on the radio with her team. “Careful out there. They’re up to something,” she said as she kept her bot steady.

“Roger that. I’ve got my eye on them,” said Roxanne as she kept her attention on the opposing team.

Blair and the rest of Team Balisong proceeded down the first straight away and began going around the first bend. All the while, Team Skylark kept pace beside them, gliding along directly parallel to them. Blair kept her guard up as did the rest of her team, watching for their opponent to make a move. As the two teams were about to finish coming around the bend towards the second straight away, Team Skylark struck first.

After coming out of the turn, the mechs of Team Skylark immediately turned to their left and lashed out with a sudden lightning-fast attack, each of them striking out at one of Team Balisong’s bots. Fortunately for Blair, she was expecting something like that might happen and had her fingers ready at the controls to react at a moment’s notice.

“Figured you’d try something like this!” said Blair as she pressed a button on her control sticks. As soon as Team Skylark made their move, Blair and her team initiated their mech’s jump-jets and jumped over their sneak attack, landing right behind Fantine and her team.

Fantine was surprised at Blair’s response time and quickly recovered after her failed attack as did the rest of her team. “How did you know I’d go on the offensive so early in the race?” she asked over the radio.

After touching down back on the track, Blair recovered and prepared to counterattack. “The track’s much smaller than the normal one, so I correctly guessed you’d want to take us out as quickly as you could. Too bad I read you like a book and prepared for that,” she said before lashing out at Fantine with a punch. “Team Balisong, engage! Lock a bandit and hit ‘em hard!”

“Acknowledged. Beginning my assault,” said Roxanne with a cool and calm demeanor, dashing towards Elissa in the rear of Fantine’s formation.

“Let’s get ‘em!” said Miharu as she focused her attention on Jessica.

Elissa readied herself for Roxanne’s attack but was unprepared for what she did next. After getting right in front of Elissa, Roxanne used her boosters to quickly maneuver around to her opponent’s flank. There, she grabbed a hold of Elissa’s bot from behind and performed a devastating grapple throw on her.

Beside them, Miharu and Jessica were locked in a battle of their own with Miharu keeping her opponent on her toes. Miharu was a big fan of using the mech’s jump-jets as was her sister, using them to great effect in dodging her opponent’s attacks or positioning her herself for an attack of her own. Jessica was having a hard time keeping an eye on Miharu as she constantly kept boosting in completely different directions at a moment’s notice. Miharu and Shizune were used to the sudden change in G-forces due to their dog-fighting days as fighter-pilots. They were considered adrenaline junkies by their squadronmates while in the military which probably explained why they favored using the bot’s jump-jets so much during races.

At the front of the pack, Blair and Fantine were duking it out, matching each other blow-for-blow. Blair had a competitive grin on her face all the while, not having fought against a pilot that wasn’t a teammate in so long. She kept dishing out blow after blow, not giving Fantine a chance to rest or recover.

Before they knew it, the racers were already mid-way through the second lap and were approaching the last bend before the final lap. Both teams were still engaged with one another in fierce combat with neither side showing signs of backing down. With the end almost in sight, Blair decided to enact one of their carefully crafted plans to hopefully secure the win for her and her team.

“All right team, I think these girls have had enough,” said Blair over the radio to her team. “We’re going with Blackbird. Rox, Miharu, you know what to do.” Roxanne and Miharu acknowledged and went about carrying out their plan.

“Understood. I got this,” said Roxanne before exhaling, rehearsing the plan once more in her head.

“Ryoukai! (Roger!),” said Miharu as she readied her bot.

Blair, Roxanne, and Miharu then began maneuvering Team Skylark together before surrounding them. Once Fantine and her team were all bunched together in a group, Blair and her teammates began using their boosters to dash around Team Skylark in a ring, keeping them in the center. Team Balisong’s mechs kept dashing in the same direction while keeping the circle tight around their opponents, the images of their individual mechs starting to blur together in Team Skylark’s eyes.

“Keep it tight, ladies! We’re almost there,” said Blair as the constant G-force from the encircling pushed on her body.

Inside the Forward mech of Team Skylark, Fantine gritted her teeth as Team Balisong continued to circle around them. She then had her team all lash out at once to try and break up whatever Blair and the rest of Team Balisong were doing. As Team Skylark’s mechs advanced and struck out from the encirclement, Team Balisong disengaged and regrouped out in front of Team Skylark. To their surprise, Fantine and her teammates only saw two mechs from Team Balisong.

“Huh? Where’s the third one!” said Fantine as she looked to see only Blair’s bot and one other. She could tell Blair’s bot apart due to its red eyes, but she was unsure which of the others was which since Team Balisong’s Defender and Midfielder mechs looked so alike. As she looked around their immediate area, checking her flank, Jessica’s voice was heard in her headset.

“Uh, Fantine? Out there…,” said Jessica as she pointed to way further up the track.

Fantine looked to where she was pointing and saw the missing mech had transitioned to speed-mode and was speeding away. It was Miharu and she was able to break away from the battle and take the lead thanks to Blair’s and Roxanne’s diversionary tactics. Since her Defender mech was the slowest, but only by a small margin, she was chosen to be the one to shift into high gear and sneak away. Meanwhile, Blair and Roxanne stayed behind to continue and keep Team Skylark busy while Miharu got far enough away. Blair was just lucky enough that Fantine waited as long as she did before commencing her attack.

“No… way…,” said Fantine as she momentarily got lost in the fact that she was so easily duped. Just as she was about to speak again, Roxanne took her by surprise and did a quick Judo leg-sweep to knock her off guard. Fantine fell back onto the track as Roxanne turned away, transitioning into speed-mode and hurrying off.

“Catch ya later, Fantine!” said Roxanne as she hurried to get some distance between her and the other racers.

As Fantine hurried to get back on her feet, Jessica and Elissa came to her aid was about to pursue Roxanne until Blair got in their way and stopped them. Once Fantine had recovered, she looked to Blair standing in front of her, alone against her and her two teammates.

“Do you really think you can take on the three of us by yourself?” asked Fantine as she prepared to attack Blair three-on-one.

Blair readied herself as she looked to the three opposing mechs. She stared Fantine down then smirked. “Nope. Course not,” she said before using her boosters to dash away before switching to speed-mode.

Fantine just stood there, completely dumbfounded by how easily Team Balisong got the better of her and took the lead.

“They’re getting away!” said Jessica as she watched Blair get further and further ahead of them.

“Do you want us to switch to speed-mode as well and go after them?” asked Elissa.

Fantine just watched as the gap between her and Blair’s team grew larger by the second. “No. It’s over. We’ve lost. Their Defender or Midfielder is already more than halfway done with the final lap while we just started it. The other mech that left isn’t far behind her. No. They’ve beaten us so let’s not put any more unnecessary strain on our mechs than we have to,” she said. Elissa and Jessica sighed within their mechs and complied, forming up with Fantine in a simple V-formation as they casually finished the race. When they finally reach the finish line, Blair’s team was already there waiting.

As Team Skylark returned to the starting area with their bots, Blair disembarked from her own mech and went over to them as did Roxanne and Miharu who joined her. After coming to a complete stop and shutting off her mech, Fantine exited the cockpit and joined her team on the ground. She then saw Blair and her team approaching and sighed, preparing herself for whatever insults Blair might have had for her.

Once Blair finally made her way over to Fantine, she smirked, stopping right in front of her. Instead of her usual witty remark or sarcastic joke, she just held out a hand as a sign of respect between team captains. “Good race,” she said simply as she waited for Fantine to shake her hand.

Fantine was surprised by the lack of a quip and hesitantly shook Blair’s hand. “What is this? No mocking joke or remark like ‘nice of you to drop by’ or the like?” she asked while remaining skeptical of Blair’s display of good sportsmanship and lack of her usual self.

“What’s the matter? Am I not allowed to congratulate a fellow racer in a respectable manner after defeating them fair-and-square? We are IG-1 teams, after all… at least, at one point or another,” said Blair as she tried not to make her statement not sound like an insult.

Fantine managed a slight smile, taking Blair’s back-handed comment as a compliment after realizing she meant no ill-intent by it. “It’s nice to see you can be civil, at least,” she said, withdrawing her hand from the friendly handshake. “It’s also refreshing to see that it was your cunning that defeated us -something I didn’t think you had- and not something like brute strength, which is what I imagined you only capable of.”

“Well, we have been training all summer long, so we better have picked up something new from Lucia’s tutelage,” said Roxanne as she stood beside Blair. She then shook Fantine’s hand as well, congratulating her on a well-fought race.

Both teams exchanged friendly gestures as the rest of Team Balisong’s and Team Skylark’s members joined them on the track. Fantine and her team waved goodbye to Blair, Roxanne, and Miharu as they returned to their coach for a debriefing and to get their mechs back in their hangar. Meanwhile, Blair and the others did the same with their team.

“That was so great racing out there, guys! Congrats!” said Maggie as Blair and the others met up with her, Sarah, Lucia, and Shizune.

“Indeed. Well done, team. I knew you had it in you,” said Sarah as she congratulated her team on a hard-fought victory.

“Thanks, ma’am. Couldn’t have done without my team and Lucia’s great mentorship,” said Blair as she looked to Lucia.

Unlike the rest of the team, Lucia remained stoic, saving her emotional reserve for the real IG-1. “Yes… Congrats on your victory. But this was only an exhibition match against a former IG-1 team,” she said while dampening the mood.

Hearing Lucia’s less than cheery words, Blair frowned slightly. “Aw, c’mon, Coach. Can’t you be happy for us this one time?” she said.

“I am happy for you. Well done,” said Lucia as she looked to Blair and the rest of the pilots. “What I am not happy about is all this time you’re wasting patting yourselves on the back when you should be at home packing your bags.”

“Well I’m not- Wait. Pack our bags?” asked Blair, confused as to what Lucia meant.

Sarah smiled and stood beside Lucia, looking to all the pilots as well. “We have an early start tomorrow and a long drive. There won’t be any time in the morning to do so,” she said.

“Long drive? What is going on, ma’am?” asked Roxanne who was just as confused.

“I’ve arranged a special treat for us all to celebrate your victory and commemorate the end of your training. You’ll all be accompanying me on a three-day stay at a lovely beach resort complete with a villa for us to stay in. We leave bright and early tomorrow so hurry up and get the bots back in the hangar for repairs then head home to pack. I’ll send you the details in an email later,” said Lucia.

Unable to contain their excitement at the news, Blair and the other pilots let out an exciting cheer before leaving to finish up their business at the track. Roxanne and Miharu hurried back to their bots while Shizune hurried back to the observation deck to collect her things. Before leaving, Blair looked back to Lucia.

“You planned this all in advance?” asked Blair.

“I did,” said Lucia.

“So… what if we had lost today? Would we still be going on this trip?” asked Blair.

Lucia chuckled, making direct eye contact with Blair. “Of course. You did all train very hard these past few weeks, so at least we had that to celebrate before the start of the IG-1 Invitational,” she said. After Blair gave her a nod and began to walk off, Lucia spoke up once more. “I was also sure you wouldn’t let me down, Captain. I knew you’d pull off a victory today.” Blair smiled and gave her a thumbs-up before continuing on back to her bot.

Once Blair was gone, Sarah turned to Lucia with a trouble expression on her face. “You know, you could be a bit more supportive of your team’s achievements,” she said. “This victory was a big accomplishment for them.”

Lucia scoffed at her remark. “I _am_ supportive. What do you think this trip is meant for?” she asked.

“Then why not tell them that you’re proud of them or congratulate them on winning,” said Sarah.

Lucia glanced at Sarah then looked out towards Blair and the others as they walked their bots back into their hangar. “Because, Ms. Davis… they’re not in the IG-1 yet. As they keep up the hard work and eventually take the title, then I’ll finally say I’m proud of them. Until then, I find it’s not wise to get their hopes up and inflate their ego with false praise,” she said.

“Is that what happened with you,” said Sarah outright.

Maggie gasped at the comment but Lucia raised a hand to put her at ease. “That was uncalled for. Whatever happened to me has nothing to do with how I treat the team,” she said before motioning Maggie to wheel her away.

As Lucia and Maggie left, Sarah remained standing there alone, watching the former IG-1 racer while thinking to herself. After lingering for a few moments she reached into her pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. She took one out and placed it between her lips, lighting it with her pocket lighter. After a puff of smoke, Sarah turned back towards the complex and headed inside, retrieving her things before heading on back home.


	12. To the Beach!

It was the morning of their trip to the beach and Blair and Roxanne were making their final checks around the apartment before leaving. They had packed their bags the night before so they didn’t have much to do once they woke up.

Lucia had graciously paid for a three-night stay at a world-renown beach resort. The team got to stay in a lavish villa and relish in its many amenities during their vacation there. It was only a week away before the opening ceremony of the IG-1 Invitational event, so Lucia and Sarah wanted their team to be relaxed and ready for the upcoming races.

“Is everything in the kitchen turned off?” asked Roxanne from inside hers and Blair’s bedroom.

“Yeah,” said Blair as she sat on the couch in the living room, waiting for her partner to finish up whatever it was she was doing.

“All the appliances?” asked Roxanne who was still scurrying about within the bedroom.

Blair let out a weary sigh and replied, “Yes. Checked those too. Dishes have been washed. Trash has been taken out. I got everything I need packed so let’s get going already. Shizune and Miharu already left fifteen minutes ago. By the time we leave, everyone’s going to have gotten there already and started having fun without us.” She grumbled to herself and stared at the blank TV screen which wasn’t turned on. Anxious to get going, she tapped her foot then looked to the bedroom to see what was taking Roxanne so long. “Hey, Rox, what’re you-” Just as she looked to the door, Roxanne finally stepped out with bags in tow. “Oh, wow…,” she Blair, looking over her beautiful girlfriend and the simple, yet lovely outfit she was wearing.

Roxanne was wearing tan short shorts and a black sleeveless top that came down to just above her bellybutton. On top of her head was a large sunhat made of straw and on her feet were a pair of casual slippers. To top it all off, she had a pair of designer sunglasses on along with her watch on her wrist. The entire outfit was in itself a simple one, but it showed off a lot of Roxanne’s skin which Blair fancied. “How do I look?” she asked, giving a twirl so Blair could see her from every angle.

Blair was only wearing an athletic-fit V-neck shirt, light-tan Capri pants, and hiking shoes, which in all was an outfit that didn’t look nearly as stylish as hers. “You look great, Babe,” she said as she got up from her the couch.

“Shall we get going then?” asked Roxanne, heading for the door with a bag slung over her shoulder and pulling her rolling luggage behind her.

Blair smiled and retrieved her luggage. “Right behind ya,” she said, following Roxanne out the apartment and locking the door behind her.

They headed on down to the parking garage and decided to take Blair’s car to the resort. Driving around a beach town in a sportscar with the top down was much more appealing than riding in Roxanne’s BMW sedan. Not that it wasn’t a nice car, it was just that Blair’s ride was much more appropriate for the vacation atmosphere by the beach. Blair and Roxanne put their luggage and bags in the trunk then got buckled in. Blair decided to put the sunroof up during their long drive to the resort. It was sunny out, so they decided to save the convertible ride under the sun for when they got there and not get burnt even before arriving. Once the roof was fully up and locked, and after Roxanne readied the GPS with the resort’s address, Blair put on her aviator sunglasses and drove the car out of the parking garage towards their three days of fun under the sun.

In total, the trip to the resort was going to take around two hours or so depending on traffic and the amount of stops they made. During the car ride, Blair and Roxanne started off by talking about what they were going to do once they got there and any potential fun things to keep an eye out for. Eventually, they got on the topic of their future together and what it meant for the two of them.

Blair continued to mind the road and kept her left hand on the steering wheel while the other was resting on her leg. As she was driving, an advertisement came through the speakers after one of the songs they were listening to finished. They were using a music streaming service to listen to music which had advertisements play between songs sometimes. The commercial was for a jewelry company advertising a special on engagement and wedding rings. After the advertisement was done, music began playing once more through the car’s sound system.

“So, are we going to get married?” asked Roxanne out of the blue as she kept her attention focused on the passing landscape outside.

Blair nearly choked on her saliva as she responded. “Married!?” she asked.

“Yeah. You know, marriage? It’s 2051. Marriage is legal between two women now, you know,” said Roxanne in a joking manner before sipping on her mocha frappe that they got earlier.

“I know that. But that’s a- That’s a big commitment,” said Blair as she glanced at Roxanne before focusing back on the road.

“Are you saying you’re not committed? Am I not worth the commitment?” asked Roxanne as she turned her head towards Blair.

“No! It’s not that I’m not committed or anything. It’s just…,” said Blair as her head begin to fill with many different things. “Weddings are a big affair. Almost too overwhelming to think about.”

Roxanne took another sip from her frozen blended coffee then smirked. “It’s not like you’re going to have to plan the whole thing on your own. Of course I’ll help you,” she said.

“Yeah, I guess,” said Blair. “So hypothetically then, how would our wedding go?”

“Hypothetically? Still on the fence about the whole getting married thing?” asked Roxanne after a heavy sigh.

Blair smiled and placed a hand on Roxanne’s thigh, giving it a reassuring rub. “No. I’d like to get married, very much so even. But eventually, though. I’m just worried about how we would go about doing it? Is there going to be some sort of big ceremony? Who would we invite? What about all the paparazzi and the like? Our fans? Like I said. Almost a bit too much to think about,” she said.

Roxanne smiled after hearing that marriage was something Blair definitely wanted. She then placed a hand on top of Blair’s, caressing it gently. “So you’re not concerned about the act but rather how we would actually go about doing it?” she asked before giving it some thought herself.

“Yup. If all you wanted to do was have a private ceremony with just the two of us and say our vows to get married, then I’d be down for that in a heartbeat. Unfortunately… I figure you’d want something a bit more than that, huh?” said Blair as she turned her head to hear Roxanne’s response. Blair was spot on in her assessment as Roxanne remained silent for a bit in her seat. “Am I right? You were thinking something grand in a church with all our friends and family in attendance? All the glitz and glamor of a traditional wedding? I’m not saying I’m against it. I’m just saying it’s going to be a lot of money and effort to put all that together.”

“I suppose…,” said Roxanne as her mood became more subdued.

Seeing that she may have troubled Roxanne a bit, Blair quickly changed topics to try and brighten her mood. “But that honeymoon, though. That’s going to be one hell of a honeymoon, won’t it? Just you, me, and no one else. All the privacy in the world all to ourselves just to do whatever we wanted… or whoever we wanted…,” she said with a wink.

Hearing her girlfriend’s fantasy made Roxanne smile as she perked up again. “That ‘whoever’ you speak of better only refer to one person, the one person you just committed your entire life to not but a day or so ago,” she said with a chuckle.

Blair chuckled as well, relieved by Roxanne’s renewed spirit. “But of course. I wouldn’t want to do it with anyone else in the entire world,” she said, giving her lover a warm smile before looking back to the road.

Roxanne was able to relax again, daydreaming in her head about being married to her one, true love. The very thought of her and Blair being a married couple made her feel all warm inside that she could barely contain it. Eventually, she thought. One day the time would come when she and Blair could be happily married. She let out a contented sigh as she glanced over to Blair who was focused on the road and didn’t notice her. Roxanne let her eyes linger on her girlfriend for a few moments then looked away. It wasn’t like what she and Blair had was bad or anything. In fact, it was almost perfect the way it was then, so she decided marriage could wait until later and focused on the present.

Not before long after their talk about marriage, Blair and Roxanne arrived at the beach town the resort was located in. Before getting there, Blair had parked at a gas station to put down the roof so they could see everything and take in the sites more clearly. As they drove through the area with the sunroof down, Blair and Roxanne grinned happily as they took it all in. The sun was shining bright. There was a cool breeze and the sky was clear. Everything was perfect for a vacation at the beach.

Roxanne continued to guide Blair through the unfamiliar streets and towards their resort using the car’s GPS. The closer they got, the more touristy their surroundings began to get. There were restaurants and eateries galore featuring all sorts of different cuisines. There were stores and shops stocked with everything a beachgoer or tourist would need or not necessarily need. In addition to all that, there were exciting attractions all around to visit and experience. Blair and Roxanne were having a hard time keeping track of it all that they nearly missed their turn that brought them to the resort’s entrance.

Blair followed the signs and drove up to the resort’s main building and reception area. She hoped there was valet parking so she didn’t bother finding a parking spot right away. As she pulled up to the front entrance, she caught the passing glance of a pedestrian or two admiring her sweet ride, or maybe even the occupants inside said sweet ride. Blair smiled as people stopped every now and then to watch her drive on by. Seeing an empty spot, Blair steered her car in and parked, relieved to see what appeared to be a valet attendant positioned there for guests. She and Roxanne then got out and retrieved their bags from the trunk of the vehicle, heading on over to the hotel employee. He was an older gentleman and seemed to be more of a supervisor than a frontline worker.

“Excuse me. Does this hotel have valet parking?” asked Blair to the attendant standing behind a podium.

“Indeed it does. Unfortunately, all our valets are out attending other guests, but I’m sure one will return in just a few short moments,” said the employee. “In the meantime, I can take your key and give you a ticket so you don’t have to wait.”

“Sure. Here ya go,” said Blair as she tossed him her car key after removing it from her keyring. “Take good care of her.”

“But of course, ma’am. This is for the yellow Dodge Viper, I assume?” asked the employee as he held up the key.

Blair looked at him then to the sportscar they clearly just got out of. “Yup. That’s the one,” she said with a smile without trying to sound too condescending.

“Very well,” said the employee as he got a valet parking ticket ready for Blair. As he handed her the ticket, he couldn’t help but wonder. “Do pardon me but… have I seen you before?” he asked.

Blair paused after taking the ticket, looking at him from behind her reflective aviator sunglasses. “Nope,” she said simply before giving him a friendly smile and heading inside along with Roxanne. Roxanne gave her a smile with a small shake of her head, taking Blair’s hand in hers as they entered the lobby.

Blair’s bright red hair often attracted the attention of unsuspecting fans, but she and Roxanne learned their lesson a while back about revealing their identity so freely while in public. After becoming famous in the IG-2 when they first started racing, they were constantly hounded by paparazzi, news reporters, and crazy fans whenever they went somewhere in public. Over time, they began adopting a more discrete approach to appearing in public, though, things had calmed down significantly since then. Luckily for them, they were both wearing sunglasses and Roxanne had her hat on as well. That was all it took to mask their identity well enough to not immediately be recognized by the average bystander.

Inside the lobby, Blair and Roxanne looked around for Sarah who said she was going to meet them there when they arrived. Before getting to the resort, Roxanne called everyone else to see if they had gotten there already and it appeared that everyone was there except for her and Blair. As a result, Sarah was going to show them where the villa was since she and Lucia were checking in at the time of the call. She was going to wait until they got there and meet them in the lobby.

“See her anywhere?” asked Blair as her eyes continued to skim around the room.

Looking around, Roxanne finally caught glimpse of the team manager. Sarah was in the main waiting area off to the side, sitting comfortably in one of the recliners there as she read a magazine in her hands. What was odd was that Roxanne and Blair barely recognized her as she wasn’t in her usual business casual attire. Instead, she was completely in the spirit of a beach vacation, wearing a bikini and luau floral skirt to cover her lower body. She had on flip-flops and a pair of sunglasses with her hair completely let down and flowing freely, a white flower placed haphazardly in it.

“Co- Colonel?” asked Blair as she and Roxanne approached Sarah with their luggage right behind them.

Sarah looked to the two through her tortoise-shell shades and let out a sigh, tossing the magazine back on the table in front of her. “It’s about time you two showed up. I’ve been waiting for like half an hour already,” she said, standing up and facing the two.

As Sarah stood up, Blair could fully see her figure in her appropriate, yet revealing choice of an outfit. Much of Sarah’s body was exposed, allowing Blair to see her still toned features which she hadn’t seen much of, not that she was keeping an eye out for Sarah’s body in the first place; she was just surprised was all.

“Sorry, ma’am. We had to make a stop or two along the way,” said Roxanne. “When did you all get here?”

Before she answered Roxanne’s question, Sarah gave Blair a curious look, wondering what she was staring at despite not being able to see her eyes through the sunglasses. “What’s the matter, Brass? See something you like,” she said with a playful sway of her hips.

Blair snapped out of her daze and fixed the sunglasses on her face. “Huh? Nothing. Just not used to seeing you like this is all, ma’am,” she said with an awkward smile. Roxanne gave her a sideways glance but Blair just shrugged it off.

“Well, bikinis and floral skirts aren’t exactly standard military issue, so I suppose not,” said Sarah with a chuckle. “With regards to your question, Jack, we got here a couple hours or so ago so we already got the villa squared away. Lucia and Maggie are there settling in as we speak. The twins arrived soon after we got here and are there as well. C’mon, let’s get going and I’ll show you.” She then motioned for Blair and Roxanne to follow her as she began heading off.

“We all have rooms, so when we get there, you two will have a room all to yourselves,” said Sarah as she walked along ahead of Blair and Roxanne. “I’m sure Miharu and Shizune already chose their room so you can have whichever is left over since you were last to arrive after all.”

“That’s fine with us. We don’t mind sharing…,” said Blair as she gave Roxanne a sultry smile.

Even though Sarah was ahead of the other two and couldn’t see them, she could tell the kind of expression Blair had on her face solely based by on her words and tone. “Which reminds me. I happened to be talking with the twins earlier…,” she said.

“Yeah? And what’d they say?” asked Blair who was still lost in her head about having a room with Roxanne all to themselves in a coastal paradise.

Sarah smirked to herself and glanced over her shoulder at Blair. “They happened to touch on what it was like having you two as roommates…,” she said.

Roxanne didn’t like the sound of what Sarah was going to say, knowing how mischievous the Anko Twins were. “Oh? Was what they said… good?” she asked, hoping for the best but knowing full well that wasn’t the case.

Sarah looked forward, continuing to walk at a casual pace. “Let’s just say that I like my sleep and hope to enjoy a full-night’s rest while we’re here, okay?” she said, alluding to what the twins might’ve told her regarding the promiscuous things Blair and Roxanne did together. “Now, I’m not saying you can’t have fun, but just keep the noise down. I’m sure Coach and Maggie don’t want to hear any of that nonsense while they’re here as well.”

Blair blushed, not necessarily liking how word of their loud nighttime love-making was getting around. “U- Understood, ma’am,” she said.

While Sarah led Blair and Roxanne back to their villa, she highlighted things and places of interest around the resort along the way. She pointed out a couple fancy restaurants, a few gift shops, and some cafes scattered about as well as a wide variety of key sites like the main pool area and primary beach access point. Blair and Roxanne made sure to make a mental note of everything, talking amongst themselves as they tried to contain their excitement. Eventually, they reached the part of the extensive resort where the VIP villas were located, soon arriving at their very own.

It was one of the higher-end villas the resort had to offer. It was well secluded from the other villas in the area and was situated nicely on a hill. It came with five bedrooms paired with their own spacious bathrooms. The villa also had a small kitchen area, a study, and a lavish living-area complete with the latest in entertainment systems. Just outside the villa in the back was their very own hot-tub and pool. The pool wasn’t very large, only around ten by fifteen feet in size with a depth of just under six feet. If Blair and the others wanted a real pool experience, the main resort area was more than equipped to satiate that desire with its many larger pools and aquatic attractions.

“Here we are, the Polynesian Villa,” said Sarah as they arrived at the front of their abode. When the three of them entered, they were promptly greeted by the rest of the team.

“Blair! Rox! Check out the sweet digs!” said Miharu and Shizune as they appeared in the doorway to their room together. They were both wearing khaki shorts and a light-purple tank-top.

Blair and Roxanne were near speechless at how elegant and impressive the interior of the villa was. On the outside, it looked like a quaint bamboo and wood dwelling, decorated with a French-Polynesian flair, but on the inside, it was completely different. It still had a French-Polynesian theme, but everything was more contemporary and sophisticated looking. Sarah let the two gawk at the villa and continued inside to find Lucia and Maggie.

“Wow. This place is great,” said Blair as she continued to admire her surroundings.

“It should be. It’s the best villa they had available,” said Lucia as Maggie wheeled her into the main part of the villa to greet the late arrivals. Lucia was sporting a simple outfit consisting of a loose, buttoned shirt and casual slacks. She too had a sunhat but it was a bit smaller than Roxanne’s. Maggie had on a simple flowing dress that went down to her knees.

“It’s very nice. Thanks again for arranging all this for us, ma’am,” said Roxanne as she turned towards her.

“It’s my pleasure,” said Lucia with a warm smile. “Now that you’re all here, let’s go over a few things before you all disappear to do your own thing.” Everyone then gathered around her to hear that she had to say. “First off, thank you all for your hard work these past few weeks. You’ve earned this little vacation so spend it how you please. Next, if it’s nighttime and one of your teammates is sleeping, try and keep the noise to a minimum,” she said, suddenly glancing to Blair and Roxanne. The two of the started to redden in the cheeks, wondering if the twins told her as well about them. “And lastly, all I ask is that you don’t get into any trouble or put yourself in a position where you can’t race, like getting sick or injured. With it being so close to the opening ceremony, I don’t want you all taking any unnecessary risks, okay?” Lucia was mainly talking to the pilots, so they all nodded in acknowledgement.

“Read you loud and clear, ma’am,” said Blair.

Lucia looked to each of her pilots, making sure they understood her fully. After hitting on everything she wanted, she dismissed everyone to begin their merriment. She allowed Maggie to go off on her own if she wanted, but Maggie elected to stay with Lucia in case she was needed. Sarah left the group to take care of something in her room while the pilots remained huddled together.

“So which room is ours?” asked Blair to the twins.

The two sisters turned to the last room available and pointed to it. It was off to the side within the villa’s interior next to the other bedroom with a king-sized bed. The other three bedrooms only had queen-sized beds which were each taken by Sarah, Lucia, and Maggie. Since the twins had first pick, they chose the bedroom closest to the villa’s main room, meaning Blair and Roxanne had to take the bedroom in the very back corner of the villa. Blair and Roxanne thanked the twins then headed to their room to settle in. The two entered the bedroom with their luggage and closed the door behind them.

Blair let out a relieved sigh then went straight for the large bed, flopping on her back onto it. “Ahh… this is nice,” she said with a satisfied smile as she just lay there on the high-end mattress, her shoes still on her feet.

“Is it? Looks pretty uncomfortable to me,” said Roxanne in a joking manner as she brought her luggage inside, setting it on top of a luggage stand. She then placed the bag that was slung over her shoulder on the ground next to it; she’d take care of everything later. Instead, she just looked to Blair on the bed and went over, sitting beside her and laying back as well.

The two of them just lay there, enjoying the calm and tranquil moment together in solitude. “So, what do you want to do now?” asked Blair after lingering peacefully for a while.

Roxanne hummed to herself, giving it a thought before responding. “I don’t know. There’s so much we can do,” she said after a relaxed sigh. “What do you feel like doing?”

Even after talking about what they could do at the resort during the car ride, and even after Sarah pointed out several things of interest during the walk over to the villa, Blair was drawing a blank. “I don’t know. I’m just so comfortable laying right here with you,” she said. “Wanna just walk around? Maybe we’ll find something to do once we’re out and about.”

“Sure. There’s probably lots more to see than what Sarah showed us on the way here,” said Roxanne as she sat up on the bed.

After a few moments, Blair sat up as well and got off the bed, heading for the door. “All right then. Let’s get going,” she said with a skip in her step. She and Roxanne then left the villa together and headed back into the main portion of the resort, walking hand-in-hand at a casual pace. They were in no particular rush and had nowhere specific to be, so they enjoyed the relaxing stroll through the resort. Eventually, they came upon a bar by the pool and decided to get a drink.

Blair and Roxanne each ordered a drink then found a spot off to the side under an overhang to sit. Blair ordered a Frozen Strawberry Daiquiri while Roxanne got a simple Pina Colada. As they sat together enjoying their alcoholic beverages, someone unexpectedly came over to them.

“Didn’t think I’d find you lounging around in a place like this… Hex,” said the mysterious woman.

Blair’s ears twitched and old memories began coming back to her after the voice registered in her head. “Well now, that’s a surprise. There are few people in the world who actually know me by another name,” she said without turning to face the person addressing her just yet. “Most of them knew me as Brass. But _that_ name. There are even far fewer around who knew me as Hex,” she said before finally slowly turning around to see who it was. Much to her delight, Blair stood up to greet the woman as did Roxanne who also recognized the person. “It’s great to see you again, Spec.”

Standing in front of Blair and Roxanne was there old college friend, Gale, who went by the alias Specter. “Likewise. Didn’t expect to see you here as well, Spook, but I suppose I should’ve known since you and Hex are nearly inseparable,” said Gale while shaking Blair’s and Roxanne’s hand.

“You’re looking good, Gale,” said Roxanne with a smile after shaking her hand. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

“Indeed. Though, I never thought I’d be shaking hands with world-famous IGPX stars when we first met,” said Gale as she motioned Blair and Roxanne to sit back down. She took a seat next to Blair and continued chatting with the two.

“So what brings you here? Taking a break from all the semen you work with?” asked Blair with a snicker, giving Roxanne a high-five as she alluded to Gale’s job as an officer in the U.S. Navy, whose members were referred to collectively as Seamen.

“I guess that’s one way to put it,” said Gale after letting out a sigh, seeing that her friend’s sense of humor hadn’t changed over the years. “I’m just taking some normal leave with the family while I still can. I’m set to deploy back on the open seas next month.”

“Family? Like parents and siblings?” asked Blair as she picked her drink back up.

“Nope. Just me, the hubby, and my darling little daughter,” said Gale.

Roxanne nearly spat out her drink after hearing Gale. “You’re married!?” she asked.

“Yeah,” said Gale as she showed off the wedding ring on her hand. “Never thought I would, but then life happened and I ended up getting hitched. And now we have a kid as well.”

After hearing the topic of marriage again, Roxanne glanced over to Blair with a furrowed brow. “So… when are we getting married again?” she asked with a playful look.

Blair rolled her eyes at her. “Eventually, Rox. We’ll get there eventually,” she said.

Gale chuckled at the two. “I’m surprised you haven’t done it already, especially after being together for so long,” she said.

Blair and Roxanne just sat there, thinking about how long they’d been together. “I guess we’ve just been too busy that it slipped our minds,” said Blair.

“I suppose so, being famous celebrities and all. But don’t worry. There’s really no rush to getting married. I just had… uh, extraordinary circumstances that kinda pushed my timetable up,” said Gale.

“Lemme guess. He knocked you up, didn’t he?” said Roxanne with a knowing smirk.

Gale just looked at her and sighed. “…yeah,” she said. “But hey, it all worked out in the end and now I have a beautiful, loving daughter.”

“So where are they now?” asked Blair.

“They went off to grab a snack. I was just sitting at our table when I happened to see you two sitting over here, so I came over to say hi while I waited,” said Gale

Blair could barely believe the news. Gale was only a year or two older than her and she was already married with a child. “I still can’t believe it,” she said. “Hope all that didn’t get in the way of your military career.”

“Yeah. By now you should probably be… an O-5, Commander?” asked Roxanne, easily being able to recall the U.S. Navy officer rank structure despite being formerly in the Air Force.

Gale smirked, glancing away. “Yup. I just got recently picked up for commander, actually. I’m going to be the U.S.S. Valliant’s X.O. soon,” she said.

Suddenly, a man and a small girl came over to the table Blair and the others were sitting at. “Mommy! Mommy! We got ice cream!” said the young girl as she stood next to Gale, showing her mother the ice cream cone in her hand. She couldn’t have been older than five or so.

“We were wondering where you’d run off to,” said the man accompanying the little girl as he leaned over to give Gale a kiss. He then turned to Blair and Roxanne. “Pardon my wife if she’s bothering you. She’s very personable and likes to talk to strangers even if it means intruding on conversations,” he said, playfully nudging Gale.

Blair smiled, seeing Gale and her family looking so happy together. “It’s all right. We actually know Gale here from our college days,” she said. “We were just catching up on things.”

“Is that so? Well, any friend of Gale is a friend of mine,” said Gale’s husband as he reached out to shake Blair’s and Roxanne’s hand.

Blair and Roxanne stood up and returned the gesture, learning that his name was Jeff in the process. “Nice to meet you,” said Blair.

As they sat back down, Jeff couldn’t help but feel like he’d seen the two before. “Wait a sec…,” he said, giving the two a closer look before immediately recognizing who they were. “Honey! Aren’t these two-,” he said before being shushed by Gale. He looked over to see his wife placing a finger to her lips. He then looked back to Blair and Roxanne and figured that they wanted to keep a low-profile while on vacation. He gave them a nod as did they back to him.

Seeing that her family was back, and that Blair and Roxanne probably wanted to continue enjoying their vacation in private, Gale got up and began herding her family away. “All right, you two. Let’s head back over to our table and finish our ice cream,” she said as she took her daughter by the hand. She then gave her husband a smile and began leading them away from Blair’s and Roxanne’s table.

Just as they turned to walk away, the daughter looked back over her shoulder at Blair, making direct eye contact with her. “It’s the racing lady, Mommy!” she said.

“That’s not her, Sweetie. That’s just someone who looks like her. Now c’mere. You got ice cream on your cheek,” said Gale as she took a napkin and cleaned her daughter’s face.

After Gale and her family left, Blair looked back to Roxanne and took her drink in hand, swirling the contents of her glass around. “Never expected Gale to end up like that,” said Blair before taking a drink.

Roxanne picked her drink up as well and took a sip from it. “Why’s that? You thought she was gay like you?” she asked.

“No. Well, that and I just didn’t see her as the settling-down type,” said Blair.

“I guess you just never know what life throws at you. You just gotta roll with it,” said Roxanne before focusing more on her drink.

“Yeah, I guess so…,” said Blair.

“So… how about kids?” asked Roxanne with a wily smirk.

Blair let out a pained groan as she suddenly got brain freeze, burying her head in her hands. “One thing at a time, Babe. Marriage first then we can talk about kids later…,” she said.

“Braine freeze?” asked Roxanne with a snicker.

“…yeah,” said Blair.

“Things never change,” said Roxanne before taking a drink of her Pina Colada.

“Yeah, I suppose not,” said Blair as she began to think back to when she and Roxanne first met Gale.


	13. Welcome to First Platoon

_Nine years ago… in the year 2042…_

It was just after the start of sophomore year at MC State and Blair and Roxanne were already enjoying their first semester as a couple. The two friends had decided to room together and were sharing the same dorm room Roxanne had last year. The residence hall was nice and their room had its own bathroom, meaning they didn’t have to share it with other residents. That was why Roxanne wanted to stay in hers instead of switching rooms which Blair didn’t mind.

Blair and Roxanne were leaving the dining hall after having dinner. As they were exiting, Blair overhead a group of students discussing something interesting in front of the dining hall’s bulletin board. She told Roxanne to wait up and follow her over to see what they were talking about.

“What’s that about a campus-wide game happening soon?” asked Blair to one of the students in the group.

The people in the group turned towards her and motioned to the flyer on the bulletin board. “The first week-long HvZ game of the year is going to happen in a couple weeks,” said one of the students.

“HvZ?” asked Roxanne as she stood beside Blair.

“Humans vs. Zombies. It’s a game involving players taking on the roles of human survivors or zombies. Best part is that it involves NERF guns, and it gets the entire campus involved,” said another of the students there. “I played before and trust me- it gets pretty intense.”

“Oh yeah. I think I remember seeing something like that. That was this?” asked Blair, remembering the game from last year. “Looked kinda fun. So it’s going to start again soon?”

“Yeah. In a couple weeks,” said a student. “Are you thinking about playing?”

“I dunno. I’d like to,” said Blair as she turned to Roxanne.

Roxanne met her gaze and gave a nod. “Sure. Why not?” she said before turning to the other students. “Is it played on the weekends or after classes are mostly over? I’ll play if it doesn’t interfere with my studies at all.”

“Well… it happens all week starting on a Sunday evening, then during weekdays between the hours of five in the afternoon to five in the morning. During the day, the game is paused so people don’t have to worry about potentially missing any classes because of the game,” said the student who’d played before. “But don’t worry. If you have a class after five in the afternoon, there are still rules and stuff to make it easier on you. Like, it’s only active outside, so when you’re inside a building, the game is paused.”

“Huh, well that’s okay, I guess,” said Roxanne. “How is the game played exactly? What are the other things we should be aware of?”

Two of the people in the group hadn’t played before and were clueless, but one of them was very familiar with the game. “I can fill you in if you got time. I’m Gale, by the way,” said the girl as she looked to Blair and Roxanne.

As the other two students in Gale’s group left, Blair and Roxanne introduced themselves to her. After the pleasantries were out of the way, Gale offered to explain the whole thing to them. Blair and Roxanne had some time to spare, so they followed her off to side and found a picnic table to sit at while they continued their conversation.

Gale, who was a junior and a veteran of several HvZ games, sat down with them at the table and explained everything they wanted to know about the game. The basic goal of the game was to survive until “extraction” at the end of the week, but a human only survived if they made it to the extraction point. If they survived the week but only hid in their dorms and didn’t attend the extraction event, they were considered lost to the zombie horde. In addition to just surviving against zombie players during game hours, every night during the week, the HvZ Game Committee organized events that gave an advantage to either the human survivors or the zombie horde depending on which side won. The events were completely optional, but if there wasn’t enough human participation during them, the zombies would gain an advantage or the humans would suffer a disadvantage based on the event’s objective.

At the beginning of the game, there was one person who became “infected” with the zombie virus, and they were transformed into the first zombie called the Alpha Zombie. They were normally an anonymous volunteer chosen from the player population. Everyone else got to start the game as a human survivor.

While they talked, Blair, Roxanne, and Gale touched on other things besides HvZ. Blair and Roxanne learned that Gale was in Navy ROTC and told her that they were AFROTC cadets. After explaining everything she knew about HvZ, and finding out that Blair and Roxanne had aspirations of joining the military, Gale decided to try and recruit them into her special HvZ group.

“So, you two are certainly wanting to play when things start in a couple weeks?” asked Gale.

“Sure. It sounds like a great time. Just seems like there’s going to be a lot of running,” said Blair.

Gale chuckled at that. “That a problem? Thought you were in ROTC. Don’t you guys do PT in the Air Force?” she asked.

Blair sighed at the jest. “Yeah. I don’t mind the running. Just haven’t done it as much as I was used to,” she said. Back in Japan when she was still in high-school, Blair was a member of the Soccer Club and did loads of running, but when she came to the United States, she stopped participating in sports. When she began ROTC at the beginning of her freshman year in college, she had to get back into the groove of running, and she still hadn’t reached the level of fitness she had during her Soccer Club days.

“I’ll join as well. I could always use the extra exercise,” said Roxanne who also wasn’t a stranger to running. Since she knew in advance she wanted to be in ROTC, which required a lot of physical conditioning, she prepared her body in high-school for the eventual daily PT routine as a cadet.

“That’s good to hear,” said Gale as she looked to Blair and Roxanne. “So how about you two join First Platoon then?”

“First Platoon?” asked Blair.

“It’s the premiere anti-zombie fighting force here at MC State. They were formed when HvZ first came to the campus in 2011, so it has a long and venerable heritage. It just so happens that I’m a member and friends with the current leader of the group,” said Gale.

“Oh. That sounds fun,” said Roxanne as she considered the offer. “Are there other groups like First Platoon?”

“Other groups, sure. Maybe. Like ours? Nope. At least, not at this campus,” said Gale. “We’re the best of the best at MC State.”

“Is that so? Then why do you want us as part of your crew? We haven’t even played before,” said Blair.

“Well, a large chunk of our core membership graduated last year, so we need to fill the vacancies. I’ve also been thinking about forming a special group within the platoon,” said Gale.

“What kind of special group, may I ask?” said Roxanne, curious as to what Gale’s plans were.

Gale smiled slightly, eager to outline her idea with Blair and Roxanne. “I want to form an all-girl squad, one composed of like-minded individuals with passionate dedication and the motivation to become the best. I’m preferably looking for ROTC cadets, since they all more or less have the same tendencies anyway, but if someone else has the same thing, I’ll give them consideration,” she said.

“Okaaaayyy, but why an all-female team? Not that I’m complaining or anything. That’s sounds pretty cool,” said Blair, not minding that the unit was for females only.

“The main reason is because I’ve found that the guys in First Platoon, or rather more specifically the guys in my team, are too gung-ho and often don’t adhere to the para-military style of playing that we’re most known for. It’s a constant struggle to keep pace with them and I’m no rookie sporting the Freshman Fifteen,” said Gale after sighing with mild frustration. “I’m currently part of Gray Team, First Platoon’s elite independent strike force. We mostly tackle the hard stuff no one else wants to do. We’re supposed to be the most tactically adapt unit within the platoon, but most of the time, Gray Team resorts to just running around the entire game with guns blazing. It’s not covert or spectacular whatsoever.”

“Then why don’t you just get the leader to talk to them? You know, make them be more in line with the Platoon’s theme of para-military tactics?” asked Blair. “You said you were friends with the guy, right?”

“I tried, but he said results are results. He said as long as Gray Team continues to outperform the rest of the Platoon by a large margin, he’d leave them be, even if it means them being able to continue operating the way they’ve been,” said Gale.

“Well, you did say this Gray Team of yours is an independent unit meant to handle the tasks no one else wants. So what’s the big deal?” asked Roxanne.

Gale groaned out loud in frustration. “It’s just not cool enough! I want to be part of a squad I can be proud of and look good doing it. I want everyone else to be in awe of my squad and whisper about how awesome we are,” she said as she began to speak more passionately about her project. “Even though Gray Team achieves its goals, I don’t find much enjoyment in doing it with them or as part of one of the other squads. No offense to them, but they just aren’t good enough for me to join. However, if I get to form my own squad and pick and choose its members, I can turn it into something to even rival Gray Team. And I’m sure we’ll look a hell of a lot better doing it.”

Blair and Roxanne just exchanged apprehensive looks. “You’re pretty serious about all this, aren’t ya,” said Blair.

“Yeah. I am,” said Gale before continuing with the explanation of her plans. “With an all-female squad, we’d all more or less be on the same playing field and could carry out operations more efficiently and fluidly. We’d operate like a true Special Forces unit, moving and conducting missions like the pros do. That’s why I need cadets like yourselves. You all go through physical training and can keep up with me. You all can stick with the training and have the discipline to follow orders and conduct yourselves like true soldiers. Eventually, I want my squad to be the poster-child of the Platoon. If everything goes how I envision, it’ll be glorious!”

“That’s a lofty goal you got there,” said Roxanne.

“I know it sounds like a lot, but I want to make the most of my remaining time with the Platoon, and perhaps even leave a lasting legacy to add to its tradition. I’ve already scouted some other new members and people from other squads within the Platoon. I’m sure I can get the greenlight from the Platoon commander if I talk it over with him,” said Gale. “I just need two new members, and you two fit the bill perfectly.”

Blair and Roxanne exchanged staggered looks and a few words before focusing back on Gale. Blair sighed then gave her a smile. “Where do we sign up,” she said.

#

After agreeing to join Gale and her HvZ group, Blair and Roxanne attended the First Platoon tryout session during the weekend a few days later. They only had a vague idea of what to expect based on what Gale had told them, so they prepared for anything and wore athletic clothing. Blair was wearing black athletic leggings, a sports V-neck, and running shoes along with her Japanese high-school Soccer Club jacket. Roxanne was wearing similar clothes except for the jacket; she just had a generic track jacket on instead. When they arrived at the athletic field where the tryouts were being conducted, they saw several people already conducting drills and exercises.

A good portion of First Platoon’s current members were present at the tryouts, sporting their para-military paraphernalia and NERF guns; though, only a small number were actually wearing tac-vests and other military gear. A majority of the members were just wearing regular clothes.

The veteran First Platoon members were inspecting and evaluating the potential recruits, testing their physical abilities and basic teamwork. They were mostly looking for players who were willing and determined and not necessarily the most physically fit. Loyalty, dedication, and a strong sense of teamwork were the traits that First Platoon were most concerned about. Everything else could be worked on and taught if need be.

Blair and Roxanne continued to walk around and eventually found Gale talking with someone off to the side. Gale was completely decked out in her HvZ gear. She looked intimidating to the average player, but Blair thought the look was pretty cool. The person Gale was talking to was also decked out in para-military gear as well, but not as intensely as Gale was. He was dressed in camo fatigues, a tactical vest, and assorted items. Blair and Roxanne made their way over to them and said hello.

“Sup? So, what are we supposed to be doing now?” asked Blair as she looked to Gale.

Seeing Blair and Roxanne approaching, Gale and the person she was talking to turned to them after they came over. “Glad you could make it, Blair. Roxanne,” said Gale as she gave a nod to each of them. “I was just talking my plan over with the commander, and he thinks it’s a great idea.”

“The commander, huh? So, you’re in-charge of First Platoon?” asked Blair.

“Yeah. My name’s Reed, but you can call me Fox,” said the commander.

“Fox?” asked Blair.

“It’s my callsign. We all use callsigns here to refer to each other. I’m Fox and this is Specter,” said Reed, gesturing to Gale beside him.

“Oh. That’s cool. How’d you get your name?” asked Roxanne.

“I chose it. You’re allowed to choose your callsign as long as nobody else currently has it. You can even choose previous member’s codename. I went with Fox which belonged to one of the Platoon’s founding members,” said Reed.

“Hmm. And yours?” asked Roxanne as she looked to Gale.

Gale just shrugged, not having a backstory for her callsign. “Just chose it. No special reason behind it,” she said.

“Cool. Now I need to come up with one,” said Blair.

“All right, Specter. I’ll leave these two in your care. I’ve got to talk with the squad leaders about potential manning,” said Reed before taking his leave.

Gale waved goodbye to the commander then looked to Blair and Roxanne. “We can talk callsigns later, but now we need to meet the other members of the squad,” she said.

“Already? What about these so called ‘tryouts’ you’re making all the new guys do?” asked Roxanne as she followed Gale along with Blair.

“You pass. Fox already gave his blessing,” said Gale. “You two seem to be the most promising out of all the new potential members.”

“What makes you say that? We just met,” asked Roxanne.

“I’ve got a feeling,” said Gale, looking over her shoulder at the two with a smile.

“Oh. Thanks, I suppose,” said Blair.

Gale led Blair and Roxanne over to a set of bleachers where a group of five other girls were waiting. “Meet the rest of the squad,” she said, introducing them to the rest of their squadmates.

In addition to Gale, there were three other girls there who were already First Platoon members. Two of them were wearing military gear while the other was just wearing camo clothing. The last two members were new recruits with one of them being a seasoned player already, just not with First Platoon. Luckily for Gale, she managed to find almost enough ROTC cadets to fill her entire squad. There was only one who wasn’t in an ROTC program, though she wanted to join the FBI after graduating and become a field agent. With that in mind, Gale let her in and she was more than eager to learn what she could from the others. Along with Gale, there were two other Navy cadets, an Army cadet, and a Marine Corps cadet. Blair and Roxanne were the only Air Force cadets in the squad.

After the introductions were out of the way, Blair and Roxanne listened as Gale addressed the squad as a whole. The squad had the official designation of Fourth Squad, but Gale had re-designated it with the unofficial name of Strike Witches. In keeping with the theme of witches, Gale had her squad choose callsigns related to witchcraft or the occult. The three other First Platoon members already had callsigns loosely relating to witchcraft and the like, so it was up to the new recruits to choose names. Along with Gale’s callsign of Specter, there was Voodoo, Phantom, and Jinx. Blair thought about her name and finally decided on Hex while Roxanne chose Spooky. The last two couldn’t come up with one, so the others suggested one of them being Hocus and the other Pocus, like the spell. They liked the idea and went with that, one of the taking on the callsign Hocus and the other Pocus.

Once the names were decided on, Blair, Roxanne, and the rest of the squad rejoined the platoon after the tryouts were over with. Out of the 25 people who showed up, only 12 were allowed to join the platoon, bringing the total platoon strength to 36 members. Once First Platoon leadership had the total roster of members finalized, they assigned everyone into squads. In the end, four squads consisting of eight people each were created alongside Gray Team, which was traditionally a four-man team.

While Reed had everyone together, he announced that there was going to be a training day before the beginning of the upcoming game. There was also going to be a dinner get-together at one of the dining halls after he dismissed everyone. He and the other veteran First Platoon members were going to attend, and he opened the invitation up to all the new recruits, just in case they wanted socialize and grow closer as a unit. Once he said everything he wanted, he dismissed the platoon for the day.

Before leaving, Gale had her squad form up on her once more. She wanted to address them before they joined the rest of the platoon for dinner. She thanked everyone for coming out and becoming part of her squad. She vowed to do her best and lead them to victory without losing a single squad member. With that being said, she appointed Jinx as second-in-command of the squad, being the second most senior First Platoon member in the squad after herself. Jinx was put in charge of Bravo Team which consisted of Hocus, Pocus, and Voodoo. Blair and Roxanne were fortunate enough to be part of Alpha Team along with Gale and Phantom. Once the formalities were taken care, Blair, Roxanne, and the rest of the squad went to have dinner with the rest of the platoon.

During dinner, the Strike Witches manly sat together, chatting amongst themselves as they got to know one another better. Once in a while, they’d chat with one of the other platoon members, but not often. After dinner, Blair and Roxanne said goodbye to their new friends then went back to their dorm room together.

#

The next day, Blair and Roxanne went to the store to buy some gear to use during the game. Blair decided to splurge a bit more than Roxanne was willing to, though, both of them were going to eventually go all-out during the next semester. In the meantime, they sported a beginner’s loadout of sorts. Not knowing about the vast amount of awesome airsoft gear available on the internet yet, Blair just went with some generic black clothing and NERF-branded gear, even though it was cheap and really meant for kids way younger than she was.

“I can’t believe we’re actually doing this…,” said Roxanne as she followed Blair into the store towards the toy aisles.

“Oh c’mon. NERF guns aren’t _that_ expensive,” said Blair as she looked down each aisle in search of NERF guns. “It’s not like I’m going to be sinking hundreds of dollars into this game. I just want to use something I’m comfortable when I play with is all.”

After finding the right aisle and looking her options over, Blair decided to go with a stock NERF Intruder as her primary weapon; it was a semi-automatic rifle with a 20-dart magazine. For a backup, she chose to buy a stock NERF Maverick II, a single-action magnum with a 4-dart capacity. It was a vastly improved version of the original Maverick which was widely used during the first HvZ games at MC State. She also found a NERF brand tactical vest and decided to get that as well. It had loops sewn into the flimsy vest that allowed for extra darts to be carried.

Roxanne decided to go with the bare minimum and just bought a NERF Intruder as her primary weapon. Since she only wanted to buy one gun, she also picked up a NERF bandolier and a set of extra mags to increase her survivability during the game.

Once they had everything on their list, they went to the checkout area to pay for it all. Roxanne suggested that they use the self-checkout option instead of the usual lanes; she was a bit embarrassed buying toys meant for kids in public. After grabbing their bags, they headed on back home via a campus bus.

#

Over the next week, Blair and Roxanne went over all the training material on First Platoon’s private social media page and in their online document archives. They even found some videos on the internet from previous HvZ games that featured First Platoon. The more they watched, the more they became excited and eager to play. Eventually, the fall semester Week Long was upon them.

It was Sunday night and Blair and Roxanne were in their room preparing to head out. The game hadn’t started yet, so it was still safe to roam around the campus without worrying about any zombie players. The two of them were wearing plain black clothing and sporting the NERF brand gear they got at the store.

“How many people do you think will get infected tonight?” asked Blair as she secured her tac-vest and began filling the loops with foam darts.

“I don’t know. Probably not a lot. The Alpha Zombie might single out a few slower players and chase them down, but that’s all I see him getting tonight,” said Roxanne as she picked up another magazine, making sure it was fully-loaded before putting it in her bandolier.

“Well, I don’t see us seeing too much action tonight, if any, so there’s no need to go all out on the mags there, Rox,” said Blair as she gestured to Roxanne’s full bandolier, complete with three fully-loaded magazines.

Roxanne looked at her loadout then gave a nod. “You’re right. I’d hate to lose something on the first night. I have a feeling we might do some running, and these mags will get easily jostled around in this cheap thing,” she said as she began taking out some of the magazines. She kept the loose darts in the loops and only carried a single extra magazine which was easier to keep tabs on.

After getting ready, they left their dorm and began making their way to the Brickyard across campus. That was where the start of the game was going to take place. It was also where the rest of the platoon were gathering.

As they got closer, they began to see more people around carrying NERF guns. Blair and Roxanne exchanged enthusiastic smiles, thrilled to see so many other players around. When they finally arrived at their destination, most of the regular players were gathered around a raised, stage-like area, but the platoon was nowhere in sight. Blair and Roxanne looked around, eventually spotting a group of organized players off to the side by the Wolf Ears, a campus landmark. They began walking over and started to recognize people from the group.

Blair and Roxanne quickly hurried over and looked for their squad before the game began. The other members of the platoon were gathering around their squads as well, their squad leaders doing their best to keep everyone organized. As they approached Fourth Squad, they found Gale at the head of their unit, dressed head-to-toe in her intimidating HvZ gear.

Gale looked over and saw the pair approaching. “About time. You two are the last ones to show up,” she said as she turned to face Blair and Roxanne. “Have you two registered yet?”

Blair and Roxanne exchanged blank looks. “Uh, not yet. Where do we do that?” asked Blair.

Gale pointed back to where all the other regular players were gathered in the Brickyard. “There are some tables over there. After you register for the game, you’ll be given a player ID number and player card. They’ll explain everything once you get there. After you’re done, hurry back. Fox will be doing accountability soon,” she said.

Blair and Roxanne gave her a nod and went to get registered for the game. They made their way over to the large group of players and got in line behind one of the tables. When it was finally her turn, Blair stepped forward and started the registration process which was super quick and easy. All she had to do was give her name, campus email, and student ID number. After her information was verified by the volunteer student staff member, she was given her HvZ player ID number and a player card.

The volunteer explained to Blair that the HvZ ID number was unique to her and if a zombie player tagged her, she had to hand over her player card to the person who infected her. The zombie player then had to turn in the card to a game moderator at their earliest convenience. Using the ID card, the moderator marked the player that it belonged to as “turned”.

Before Blair was allowed to leave, the volunteer student had to check that her headband was within the game’s regulations. Players wore headbands on the arm to signify that they were still human; zombies, on the other hand, wore them on the head. The headband had to be clearly worn without being hidden or obstructed. It also had to be a certain width and of a solid, bright color, so it was easily visible to players. When Blair and Roxanne joined First Platoon, they were given custom headbands which were bright orange and had the platoon’s logo on it. Every member had one to distinguish themselves from the regular players. It was a tradition that first started with the original commander of First Platoon. Gale and her squad wore their bands high on their right arm around their bicep, so Blair and Roxanne did the same.

After checking her headband, the staff member gave Blair a nod, so she was allowed to leave. Blair thanked the student and took her player card, standing off to the side as she waited for Roxanne to finish registering. Once she was done, they headed on back to the platoon together to report in.

In the distance, they saw the squads of First Platoon begin to form up in preparation for roll-call. Each squad lined up in two columns of four with First Squad forming up on the right. Second Squad took their position to the left of them and the rest followed suit in a similar fashion.

Gray Team was providing security for the platoon while they were in their vulnerable formation, standing in a square perimeter around them. One year, the platoon made the mistake of letting their guard down. The Alpha Zombie managed to sneak up behind them and infected two members right at the start of the game. The Alpha Zombie was unique in that it didn’t have to wear a headband to help give it an edge in infecting players during the beginning.

Blair and Roxanne jogged over and rendezvoused with Fourth Squad, getting in place with the rest of Alpha Team. Once everyone was in place, Reed stood in front of his platoon and called them to attention. The members who were in ROTC were allowed to stand at-attention according to how their branch dictated, since every branch had more or less a different way of standing at-attention. The Navy had their way and the Air Force had theirs. Those who weren’t in ROTC just did the best they could, emulating whichever cadet they happened to see.

“Platoon, report!” said Reed as he took his place in front of his platoon, standing at-attention while facing them.

“First Squad all present and accounted for, sir!” said the Platoon’s Second-in-Command.

“Second Squad all present and accounted for, sir!” said Second Squad’s commander.

“Third Squad all present and accounted for, sir!” said Third Squad’s commander.

“Fourth Squad all present and accounted for, sir!” said Gale loud and proud as Blair, Roxanne, and the rest of her squad stood behind her.

“Gray Team, ready to rock,” said the leader of Gray Team as he remained alert for anything suspicious.

Reed looked to each of his squad leaders and gave an approving nod. “At ease,” he said as he loosened up as well. “All right, Platoon. We’ve got roughly five minutes before the opening remarks and Z-Hour. Squad leaders, coordinate with your people to make sure everyone gets home safe and sound once the game starts. Keep alert and watch your backs.” He gave everyone a nod before returning to First Squad and turning his attention towards the Brickyard.

After releasing the platoon back to the squad leaders, Blair watched as Gale turned to face her squad. She had them huddle around her, so Blair stepped closer and stood beside Roxanne.

“All right, things are about to kick off, so I need to make sure you all make it back home in one piece. I’ll be damned if any of you get infected on the first night,” said Gale as she looked to her squad.

Gale then outlined her plan to get everyone back home safe and sound. The squad was going to move together and escort everyone to their respective dorms, starting with the closest one that someone lived at. Since Gale lived off campus, she didn’t mind escorting everyone until they all got back safely. After the plan was explained and all questions answered, the squad prepared for the start of the game.

Soon enough, the opening remarks began. Behind the tables where registration was happening, there was a raised area with speakers. One of the main game moderators stood up there with a microphone in their hand. The person spoke into the microphone and their voice boomed through the speakers, getting all the players gathered there to focus their attention on them. She started off by welcoming everyone to the 2042 Fall Z-Night, the beginning of the fall semester Week Long game.

Blair and Roxanne listened intently, eager to see how everything was going to go. The platoon had already explained to them the game mechanics and rules, but they didn’t really touch on the lore behind the game. Apparently, there was a story that was interwoven into the game that helped explain things like game mechanics and events. Each year, it was more or less the same, but sometimes the game moderators changed it up to give the game more diversity.

The main moderator continued on and introduced herself along with her fellow moderators. Together, they were going to be oversee the game and act as referees. She then went over the basic rules for the new players and answered any questions there might’ve been. Once that was all taken care of, she started a countdown that signified the start of the game at its conclusion. After counting down to zero, the outbreak officially began and it was game on. As soon that happened, everyone in the Brickyard scattered as they began running back towards their dorms. All the new players were tightly packed around the stage while the veteran players were lingering more towards the edges. The veterans knew about the mad rush that came with the start of the game, so they stood off to the side to give themselves more room to move and keep a better eye on their surroundings.

By the Wolf Ears, First Platoon took a more organized and professional approach as they began heading out in squads. Blair and Roxanne readied their guns as they prepared to move out, following Gale’s lead.

“All right, Squad! On me!” said Gale as she began to move at a jog.

Blair, Roxanne, and the rest of the squad followed Gale as she began leading them to the first dorm. They formed up in a line formation with Alpha Team at the front and Bravo Team trailing behind them. The Squad moved at a quick pace, keeping their eyes open for the Alpha Zombie or any unfortunate player who’d been turned within the first moments of the game.

Things were calm and quiet as Blair’s squad moved through the campus, sticking to the shadows as they hurried to get everyone back to their dorms. As the squad approached the front door of a dorm building, the squad member who lived there broke off while the rest of the unit continued on. One by one, they managed to get another of their squad safely home until it was just Blair, Roxanne, and Gale left. Since Blair and Roxanne lived together, Gale was going to escort them halfway to their dorm then split off to head back to her car. The three of them continued at a swift and vigilant pace before finally parting ways.

Blair and Roxanne waved goodbye to Gale as she continued on her own, disappearing into the darkness with the sounds of her footsteps fading shortly after. Blair and Roxanne exchanged determined looks and kept jogging back towards their dorm, their guns held firmly in their hands. Fortunately for them, the remaining trip back was uneventful and without any hostile contacts. They successfully arrived back at their room and headed inside, safe from the zombie menace until the next day.

###

“Blair? Hey, Blair.”

Blair snapped out of her daydream to see Roxanne giving her an odd look from across the table. “Oh, sorry. I was just reminiscing,” she said.

Roxanne was about to ask what Blair was thinking about but held her tongue. Instead, she went back to sipping her drink as she looked around the resort. After the two were done with their drinks, they got up and went about exploring the rest of the resort.


End file.
